The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe – Missing Scene.

By Allyson.

Author's Note – The Chronicles of Narnia belong to C.S. Lewis, this is just a bit of fun. This missing scene takes place after Edmund is rescued and reunited with Peter, Susan and Lucy. This is based on the book, the movie and my imagination!

Edmund felt terrible. After regaining consciousness and finding himself safe in Aslan's camp, he had been suffering from a painful headache. His legs hurt from the walking he'd endured and the red blisters from where the Dwarf's whip had flicked him began to sting as he moved. The raw bruises on his wrists from being tied together itched and irritated him. The sight of his wrists made Edmund's stomach flip as the memories of his betrayal to the White Witch came flooding back. His talk with Aslan had shown him the error of his ways and lifted some of the guilt from his shoulders. However, the thought of facing his siblings, especially Peter, made him feel sick to his stomach.

As Aslan walked him over to where his sisters and brother had run out of a brightly-coloured tent, his relief to find that they were all okay was over-shadowed by the looks of mingling relief and betrayal on the other children's faces.

Aslan broke the awkward silence by saying, "Here is your brother, and there is no need to talk to him about what is past."

"I'm sorry," Edmund told his siblings, sincerely.

That was all Lucy needed to hear. "Edmund!" she cried out, happily, as she launched herself into her brother's arms.

Instead of complaining and shoving her away, Edmund returned the hug tightly. Reluctantly, he broke away from Lucy when Susan asked him if he was okay.

Seeing the concern and forgiveness in Susan's eyes, he managed a smile and replied, "I'm a little tired."

Glancing at his older brother, his smile melted away at the neutral expression he received. Edging around his brother, Edmund made his way to the tent he had seen his family leave earlier.

"Don't lose your way." Peter's voice froze Edmund's footsteps and made him turn towards his brother. Hearing no malice in his voice and seeing the attempted smile on Peter's face, Edmund nodded and returned the smile, before leaving.

Peter watched as Edmund entered the tent. The moment he had seen that his younger brother was alive, he'd almost collapsed in relief. He'd wanted to do exactly as Lucy had and hug Edmund, but the memory of Edmund deserting them at the Beaver's home was still fresh in his memory.

"Peter," Susan's voice shook Peter out of his thoughts.

Turning, he found both his sisters watching him expectantly. Susan raised an eyebrow and pointedly looked towards the tent.

"We should stay with Edmund," Lucy said. "Just to make sure he really is alright."

She made to step forwards but Susan placed a gentle hand on her shoulder to restrain her.

Peter sighed in resignation. "I'll go and sit with him until he falls to sleep," he replied. On seeing Lucy's anxious expression, he smiled reassuringly and added, "I promise, when he's awake, I'll come and get you."

Lucy and Susan smiled in agreement before walking away.

Peter watched his sisters walk away for a few moments before squaring his shoulders and making his way to the tent. Stepping into the tent, Peter stood awkwardly in front of the closed doorway. Daylight filtered dimly through the material walls. Peter felt relieved to find Edmund was already fast asleep on the scattered pillows. Grabbing a nearby blanket, Peter went to drape it over the sleeping boy when something caught his eye and stopped him. Sleeping on his side, one of the back of Edmund's legs lay at an angle that had caused the sock to ravel down. Thin small welts stood out against pale skin indicating the use of a whip. Frowning, Peter crouched down next to his brother and studied his brother. A scrape next to his left eye and a split lip had been the first injuries Peter had noticed on seeing his brother. Minor bruises and scratches covered Edmund's shins and knuckles from numerous falls to the ground. Draping the blanket over Edmund, Peter felt his stomach lurch sickeningly as he noticed the rope marks around one of his brother's exposed wrists. Sitting next to his brother, Peter stared at the bruised skin in shock, suddenly glad Lucy wasn't with him.

"Oh, Ed," murmured Peter, shaking his head sadly. "What happened to you?"

Throughout Peter's stay, Edmund had been sleeping silently and still. But now he started to move restlessly in his sleep and murmur to himself. Peter realized he was having a bad dream. Edmund rolled over onto his back but his legs must have caused him pain as he let out a small cry of pain and quickly rolled back onto his side. In an effort to calm his brother down, Peter reached out and began to stroke Edmund's hair like his mother used to do when they were younger. It didn't seem to calm Edmund down at all.

Edmund's murmuring started to get louder until Peter could finally make out what his brother was saying.

"No . . . no . . . please don't hit me . . . Don't kill them . . . please! I'm so sorry, Peter . . . so sorry . . . Please forgive me . . . I'm a horrible person . . . a horrible brother . . . I'm so sorry . . ."

Shocked at what he was hearing, Peter was also distraught to see tears running freely down Edmund's cheeks.

"Sshh," murmured Peter, frantically trying to sound calm and reassuring. "Ed, you're just having a bad dream. It's alright."

Edmund continued to move restlessly and repeat, "I'm sorry," over and over again.

Peter decided it was best to wake his brother up when it became apparent nothing was going to calm Edmund down. Gently shaking Edmund's shoulder, Peter called out, "Ed, wake up. You're having a bad dream. Wake up, Ed."

Slowly, his shaking had the desired effect and Edmund opened his eyes sleepily. Confusion clouded Edmund's expression as he took in his surroundings but as his memories returned back to him, his eyes snapped open in wide awake distress. Seeing Peter crouching over him caused Edmund to look away guiltily.

"Are you alright, Ed?" asked Peter, concerned, continuing to stroke Edmund's hair. "That was a bad dream you seemed to be having."

Edmund stayed silent, rubbing violently at the tears on his cheeks.

"Want to talk about it?" Peter asked.

Edmund shook his head mutely. They lapsed into a painfully awkward silence. Peter desperately wanted to know what had happened to his brother and why he had chosen to turn to the White Witch, but Aslan had told the children not to speak of it. At the same time, Edmund desperately wanted to tell Peter everything but the idea of being hated by his older brother even more than he already was stopped him.

"You must be so disappointed in me."

Edmund's quiet voice startled Peter out of his own silent thoughts. He looked down and found his brother's red-rimmed eyes staring back at him. The dull empty eyes caused Peter to swallow down the instant "yes" he was about to say.

"A little," he admitted. He watched as Edmund tried to keep the distress from his expression. Whatever anger Peter held towards Edmund's actions vanished as he now looked at his younger brother. "But I think I know why you did it."

Edmund looked at him curiously.

"I haven't been a very good brother to you," Peter said. "Ever since we left London, I've been harder on you than the girls. I'm not trying to be like Dad but I promised Mum I'd take care of you all and I'm doing the best I can."

"Nobody asked you to be perfect," replied Edmund.

"I know," sighed Peter. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too," responded Edmund. His cheeks reddened in embarrassment as he continued, "I've made a hash out of everything, haven't I?"

"I don't know," admitted Peter. "But now that we're all back together again and we're with Aslan, I know everything will be better. You'll see."

The confidence in Peter's voice allowed Edmund to feel a spark of hope in what seemed a long time. Now that he knew he'd been accepted back into his family, he knew he could make things right again. Somehow he'd find a way to prove that he could be trusted by everyone again. He smiled at Peter, who returned the gesture.

"Get some rest, Ed," Peter instructed, once again rearranging the blanket over his brother. "I'll stay until you're asleep."

"Thank you, Peter," murmured Edmund, sleepily, as he closed his eyes.

Peter watched as his brother slept, noticing how young and vulnerable Edmund looked when asleep.

"From now on, Ed," whispered Peter as a promise. "I'm not going to let you out of my sight."

The End.