AN: This is based loosely on the movie, (SPOILER) towards the end just before Roscuro sails away again. I thought that Despereaux and Roscuro needed a little bit of closure, so I wrote this, read it to my younger sister, and decided to post it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the book/movie The Tale of Despereaux. I do not own the characters of the book/movie The Tale of Despereaux.

A Forgotten Conversation

"You'll be back, won't you?"

Despereaux's normally perky ears were sagging as he watched his friend pack what few belongings he owned into a small, drawstring burlap bag.

"Of course," Roscuro replied distractedly, his left ear twitching as he picked up a dull, blue button, considered it a moment, and then hastily stuffed it in the sack.

"When?" The mouse pressed somewhat eagerly, and Roscuro chuckled as he made room in the bag for his tarnished spoon.

"It's a big world, Despereaux. It will take a long time to see it all."

"Oh," Despereaux said quietly, his wide orange eyes shifting to look down at his wringing hands.

Roscuro's ship had settled in port once again, driven back to the Kingdom of Dor by dangerous sea storms. The rat had not even hesitated when Pietro had asked him to rejoin the crew. Despereaux had stood by idly, watching his new friend be truly happy--a happiness that Roscuro could never find in Dor, could never find with the small mouse.

Roscuro turned from his ever-heavier sack to Despereaux, finding him frowning down at his hands, brows drawn together in a very pensive way. The rat sighed, uncurling his sharp fingers from the bag and slowly making his way to the table in the center of the room, where Despereaux sat. Even beside the under-sized furniture, the mouse looked abnormally small. Not that Despereaux had ever been normal. Roscuro had known that from the moment he had heard a very soft but brave voice tell Gregory the jailer about the princess and the sorrow within her.

"Despereaux," Roscuro said quietly, seating himself across from the other and hunching his shoulders as a pang of guilt settled deep within his stomach, "I can't stay here." The rat looked around the dingy room distastefully. True, Ratworld was brighter than it had been before, but the misery still remained. Sometimes shedding light on that which is dark only reveals how much more unbearable it truly is.

"I know," Despereaux confessed weakly, blinking rapidly as his eyes prickled with tears. His nose twitched as he sniffled, looking to the rat with a new confidence. "I want to come with you."

Roscuro's ears rose with surprise then lowered again in sadness as he shook his head. "You are a brave mouse, Despereaux, but even the seas are too dangerous for you."

Despereaux balled his hands into fists and banged them on the table angrily. "I survived the dungeon!"

"The dungeon is a mere speck compared to what is out there," Roscuro argued, gesturing to the small window of light behind him.

Despereaux looked at it longingly. "And I want to see it. I want to see it all!"

"You can," the rat promised with a sympathetic smile. "One day, you will."

"Why not now?"

Roscuro did not want to tell his young friend the real reason why the mouse could not travel from Dor. In the palace, Despereaux could live by a code of honor. He could charm the princess and other humans in the castle with his gentlemanly ways. He could believe in chivalry and knights in shining armor and forgiveness. He could be brave.

But out in the world, in the cold and unforgiving world, Despereaux would never survive. His fairytale innocence would shatter, and he would realize why rats like Botticelli could be so cold-hearted. He would come to know that the evils of the dungeon were nothing compared to the evils of the world, evils that Roscuro hoped the small mouse would never have to encounter.

"Do you remember," Roscuro started distantly, recalling a memory, "what you told me about 'Once Upon A Time'?"

Despereaux looked at the tabletop hard in concentration before nodding slowly.

"You said," the rat continued carefully, considering each word before he said it, "that it means the story can be from any time, that the reader can make it their own." The mouse still did not look up, his frown deepening. "One day, dear friend," and Despereaux's heart ached at those words, "there will be a 'Once Upon A Time' about the bravest mouse that ever lived, a mouse named Despereaux, defender of mice, defeater of rats, and holder of the Princess Pea's heart."

Despereaux's orange eyes were wide, and they sparkled as they studied Roscuro intently. "Do you really think so?" He whispered. His ears lifted and caught the light from the window, making his small being glow tremendously.

Roscuro stood and traced the side of the mouse's cheek with his palm, saying softly, "I know so."