A/N - This story is the continuation of "Full Circle",my story of the BATB characters' descendants, but surprise(there's a twist!)...it's the prequel. Upon rereading "Full Circle", an intriguing idea came to me and I wanted to tell the tale of Rosie and her exploits in Molyneaux during her yearlong stay there.

Disclaimer - Disney owns the rights to BATB and its characters. Their descendants however are loosely based on the BATB folk.

One Letter, Two Responses

"…Now on to the reason I've written you. I have great news. It seems we will be able to meet in person after all! I've been offered a chance to teach in Molyneaux, France, your village, of all places, and have decided to accept. I can't wait to see you in about a month. Affectionately yours, Rosie."

Louis LeFiable stared panicked at the last section in the letter in his hand. The phrase "I can't wait to see you in about a month" kept running through his mind as he wondered how he might prevent the future meeting between himself and his pen pal. Normally he would have welcomed anyone who offered or extended a friendly gesture towards him, as he was not very popular, but this was different.

Unfortunately he had embellished every thing about him to Rosie, especially his looks. He hadn't meant for it to go this far, but he thought that Rosie, if she knew the real him, would reject him. So he had created an alter ego, much similar that of Beau. Here he had been free to express himself where no one would laugh at him. He had amazed even himself and learned that Rosie was a great pen pal. He sensed that she would not be judgmental. Still he couldn't take the chance and ruin it for both of them, despite the consequences.

Luckily that had not come back to haunt him yet, but he was always leery especially around Beau. At the sudden thought of Beau, Louis shuddered. He was playing such a dangerous game with the wrong man. Beau was not the type of guy you wanted to cross. Louis had learned that the hard way and learned it well. Yet he wondered what was driving him to do this very thing?

Beau Laroche was the local town hero and most popular man. Every young man wanted to be him and every young woman wanted to be with him, to become his wife. Standing six foot four, he was blessed with a very athletic build, all of it muscle. He was also blessed with movie star looks, jet-black hair, eyes that rivaled the color of the deepest blue sapphire, and a square jaw with a cleft chin. One look and one of his famous dazzling smiles was all it took to make any woman swoon. Beau liked to brag that there wasn't a good-looking woman alive who could resist him.

Louis, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of Beau. Short, barely five foot six, stocky, and squat, he could only wish to compete with Beau for women. The only similarity they shared was that both had dark hair; however, Louis' was only dark brown. One glance at him and women passed him over for Beau, if he was nearby, he thought bitterly. Once it would be nice for someone to focus on just him, he thought. Perhaps that's why he was carrying on this charade, despite the consequences. He might just find a true friend out of all of this.

Just when he felt good about everything he noticed that Rosie had included a postscript: "P.S. I have enclosed an picture of myself so that you will be able to recognize me when I arrive."

At first, Louis didn't panic, but when he took one look at Rosie's picture, all the good feelings that he had a few minutes ago were suddenly replaced by one of impending doom. For he also realized, to his horror, that the letter had been written nearly a month ago, which meant that Rosie would be here sooner than he had previously thought. Why me! he thought, as his head sunk into his hands.

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Half a world away at that very moment, unaware of the turmoil her picture and letter was causing, Rosie Reed was with her closet and dearest friends. It was the second time in as many nights that her friends and family had honored her. Whereas this was a small intimate dinner, last evening's event had been a much larger affair with friends, family, and acquaintances gathered at the McKendricks' residence to wish her well as she was heading overseas to teach for a year in France in the next few days. Rosie had been touched to see how many people had shown up at the event.

All attention was focussed on the current speaker, Ian McKendrick, Rosie's best friend. "Rosie, we wish you all the best!" he told her, lifting his glass to her. "To Rosie!"

"To Rosie!" Kat and Brad VanBuren, their friends, echoed him.

"Thank you every one," Rosie told them. "I want to thank you all very much. This is so unexpected and I'm truly touched-"

"Hey, I don't recall any one calling for a speech. Did you, Ian?" Brad, a tall black haired burly man, asked.

Brad had known both Ian and Rosie since their childhood. The people of their hometown liked to joke that Brad was an honorary "McKendrick", because he spent most of his time at the McKendrick household. It was also a running gag that he and Ian had been separated by birth because they almost looked alike. The only way that people could tell them apart was by hair and eye color. While Ian had dark brown hair and azure blue eyes, Brad's were black and dark brown.

The three had been inseparable until their high school days, when Katrina "Kat" Wendell, now VanBuren, entered into the picture. At first Ian and Rosie had feared that their trio would be broken up, but soon they realized that they had nothing to fear. Kat turned out to be a real sweetheart and soon the trio became a quartet. To Rosie's delight, she soon had a friend to do "girl things" with. Though she loved Ian and Brad, there were times she just had to be a "girlie girl". Kat ended up being the perfect friend for this.

Much to Rosie and Ian's amusement, Kat swiftly stole Brad's heart. Rosie knew that Brad never really had a chance against Kat. Though curvy and petite, just five feet two, she was a dynamo with light blonde hair and violet eyes, and quickly charmed those around her. The two became high school sweethearts and were recent newlyweds, having married six months ago, much to the delight of their friends and families.

"Nope! Looks like our Rosie is getting ahead of herself," Ian teased. "Never thought I'd see this day. Does Rosie's head seem bigger to any of you?"

"Hmmm, now that you mention it, it actually does," Brad told him.

"Hey, that's enough, you two!" Kat protested. "You should be proud of her!"

"C'mon, Kat, can't you take a joke? We are really very, very proud of her," Ian told Kat, as he put his arm around Rosie's shoulders and kissed her on the forehead. "See?"

The gesture was not lost on Kat and Brad and they glanced knowingly at each other. Though Ian and Rosie were best friends, they never had dated or even considered it, friends and family always hoped that their relationship would eventually blossom into love.

"Yes, I see. That's much, much better!" Kat told him, nodding her head, seeing that the result was to her satisfaction.

"All right, that's enough, you three," Rosie told them, laughing at this comical scenario. Only Kat, small as she was, could get away with standing up to two grown men, both standing well over six feet tall. "Don't worry, Kat, They were just playing with me and didn't mean any harm."

Seeing that there was no harm done by Brad and Ian's good-natured joshing, Kat dropped the subject. After a momentary pause and a confirming glance at Rosie, who all of sudden seemed fidgety, she said, "All right you can drop the charade, Rosie? What's up?"

Rosie looked at her and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"C'mon, you can tell us. After all we're your closest friends. Something's the matter. Now what is it? Is it nerves?"

After looking around the table at her friends, Rosie nodded and said, "Yeah, I guess I'm starting to get some butterflies in my stomach about this trip now that it's almost here. I just don't know if I can do this. The more I think about it, the more daunting a task it's becoming. What if I get there and no one likes me? I do have to spend a whole year in a different community over there and I'm not sure how the people there will feel about a foreigner, let alone an American, teaching their children. So, yeah, I guess I am just a little anxious right now."

"Anyone not liking you? If they don't, they're crazy. C'mon, Rosie girl, let's not have anymore of this talk. I'm sure that when all of Molyneaux meets you, they'll fall in love with you, just like Brad and I and the neighborhood did when you first moved here. You'll do just fine."

"Oh, so you call pulling my pigtails and throwing mud pies at me love, do you? Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's the way I recollect how one of our first meetings went," Rosie retorted, looking at Brad and Ian skeptically.

"Yeah, well…what did we know back then?"

"Not a whole heck of a lot!" Rosie shot back. "And sometimes you still don't!"

"Okay, okay, now it's my turn to be the peacemaker," Kat said to them, before either Brad or Ian could get in a final shot. "That's enough, you three! I thought this was supposed to be a joyous celebration."

With Kat reminding them why they were there, the quartet spent the rest of the time at the restaurant talking and laughing over dinner and drinks. An hour passed and realizing how late it was, everyone said goodnight reluctantly. They then parted ways with Ian and Rosie going in Ian's truck and Brad and Kat in theirs. Settled in the truck Rosie waved to Kat out the window and then was gone.

As Kat watched the departing headlights, she asked her husband, "I wonder if those two will ever realize that they're meant for each other. Everyone else who knows them can see it, why can't they?"

Brad, ever the practical one, replied, "I don't have the answer to that, sweetheart. If it's meant to be, it will happen, but do me a favor, hon. Don't start planning for those two. They are the best of friends and a romance between them might not work out. We don't want see a friendship like that damaged. Think of the repercussions if that were to happen.

Although Kat wasn't happy about his answer, she knew her husband spoke the truth and didn't argue the fact. Ian and Rosie had a special friendship and if that were ever marred, it would be unfortunate, almost tragic.

"You're right of course, Brad."

"I'm glad someone seems to realize that," he teased her.

She ignored him and continued, "The last thing we want to see is them in is a rebound relationship with each other. Ian's break up with Veronica last year was bad enough, but poor Rosie has really never gotten over her heartbreak with Jean-Claude. That was at least three years ago. I wonder if she'll ever get over him. Brad, what is the matter?"

"Ugh, DeVincent! How I hate that name. Kat, do me a favor and never mention that Frog again in my presence or Ian's," Brad spat. Kat looked at him in alarm. "Well, can you blame us? He really did a number on her heart."

Kat nodded her head, knowing how hurt and betrayed Rosie was by the ending of the relationship. She still wasn't able to date seriously, because she was afraid of getting hurt again.

"You're right again."

"Of course, I'm right! He's just lucky he lives over in France, because if Ian or I came across him, he'd never have a chance-"

"Brad!" He glanced at her. Kat just looked at him, and said quietly, "I know you and Ian think you're Rosie's protectors, but there are just somethings that Rosie needs to do on her own. Let her deal with it in her own way, please?"

Brad looked at her, and knew Kat spoke the truth. It was a sober ride home. Kat wished she could help her friend, knowing she had to follow her own words. And yet still, she couldn't help her intuition about those two – something told her that they would end up together, but when and how? That was something she couldn't answer.