Here's a compilation of deleted scenes that were scrapped off the storyline! When I scrap scenes, I always store them in some unpublished chapters in case I decide to reintegrate them into the story or/and revise/improve on them later on. These scenes never made it back into the plot, I've left them unedited so they may not be written with compelling storytelling, or flow well with the plot you came to read due to plot revisions. I'll skip over small segments that were extracted from these scenes and edited into the actual plot (because it would be a lil' repetitive and much too long).
*****
[Context: Mrs Scrubb conversing with Charlotte about Aunt Jill — scrapped off Chapter 3/4 due to not vibing with Mrs Scrubb's character 🫤]
When Charlotte emerged from the bathroom after a night's shower in her nightgown, she was met face to face with Mrs Scrubb.
"Oh, Ma'am," she greeted, passing by her quickly.
"Charlotte."
"Hm?"
"My condolences for your loss," she said, holding out a picture frame of her and a group of ladies, "I heard about your mother and father from Jill."
Charlotte glanced at the frame, immediately making out Aunt Jill's face among the crowd.
"It's not your doing," Charlotte sighed with a small smile, "suppose we'll all welcome death in our own time."
"You're very mature for your age," Mrs Scrubb chuckled, "Jill's mentioned you quite a lot."
"She has?"
"But I don't remember her ever describing you in this way."
"Well, how does she describe me then?"
"She mentioned that you've quite the imagination, can be out of touch with reality," she shared, "but it seems to me that she may be the one who's out of touch with reality."
Charlotte tilted her head, sending her a quizzical look.
"She throws herself into her work," the woman explained, "it's heartbreaking to see. She confided in me when it happened, and after that, pretty much all her emotions were on shutdown."
Charlotte stood in disbelief, pondering over the hassles Aunt Jill had put her through psychotherapy when Aunt Jill herself clearly displayed abnormal behaviour herself. A part of her drowned in pity for her aunt, while the other part of her boiled with rage.
"She always says that she's fine, or rather that she needs to be fine to continue her work," Mrs Scrubb added as she placed the frame down, "and ensure that you finish your education and make something of yourself in the future. That seems to be her goal."
"Oh..." Charlotte trailed off, immediately feigning a yawn to exit the conversation.
"Oh, please, do get some rest."
*****
[Context: Charlotte waking Edmund on the Dawn Treader — Scrapped off Chapter 13 due to saving on word count and jumping straight to Eustace waking up as the intro]
When the sun greeted the sea and the skies, Charlotte felt its rays passing through the windows. She stirred awake from her slumber with hesitation to open her eyes. Upon realising that Lucy had already risen and left their quarters, she got herself ready.
She opened the door, instantly meeting eyes with Caspian.
"Oh, morning," she rubbed her eyes, "has Ed woken up?"
"Still in a slumber, that boy," Caspian chuckled, "you think we should wake him?"
"I'll see to it, Caspian."
She strolled further to Caspian's quarters, sneaking past the creaky door. She gazed at the sleeping boy on the hammock that slightly swayed a few centimetres to the sides. Taking a few steps closer, she subconsciously smiled at the sight of him.
His dark locks extended like roots over his eyebrows. His soft lips were warm red and decorated his fair face. She extended her hand to lightly brush his fringe out of the way, gaining a clearer view of his beauty.
"Ed..." She lowered herself and whispered to him. "Rise and shine, Ed."
"Mm," he groaned, turning to his other side, "five more minutes, Lu."
Charlotte giggled softly. "It's me, Ed."
Upon registering her voice, Edmund's eyelids flew open and he immediately glanced over his shoulder at her. He shot up, placing the back of his hand over his mouth as he let out a yawn.
"Morning, sleeping beauty," she jested with a light push, "I see you're back to sleeping in."
"Well, without the snoring kid in the same chambers, who wouldn't?"
"I wonder how Reep's faring with Eustace for a roommate anyway..."
*****
[Scene: Charlotte witnessing the past — Scrapped off Chapter 15/16 to avoid Info-dumping + revising historical events along the way]
The pages stopped turning, landing on another peculiar spell. On its page, several realms were illustrated across the pages with foreign landmarks marked at every corner. It had an extremely long timeline, dating several years that have passed by Narnia. Charlotte scanned the spell written on its page. It was titled "Truth Spell".
"Travel yesterday, today, and tomorrow," she began, "or to a different place. All that you seek, lies within this space."
"Truth I beg, truth I seek, you shall reveal, you shall speak."
The moment Charlotte uttered such words, the universe before her split into fragments in a split second.
"Lucy!" She shrieked in terror, whirled into a pool of darkness around her.
Charlotte found herself sucked into darkness, before she felt gravity pulling her towards a ground. Before she could process her surroundings, she landed on the cold, smooth marble grounds, her hands breaking her fall.
She lifted her head up, examining her surroundings. Lucy was nowhere to be seen, she was all alone in familiar castle grounds.
"Cair Paravel..."
Then, right ahead of her, she spotted a majestic lion. His tail rested on the ground, slowly shifting side to side.
"Aslan..." She got on her feet, relieved to see him. "Aslan!"
"Your Majesty?" He called out, sounding concerned.
"What is it, Aslan?" A foreign, yet familiar feminine voice emerged from behind Charlotte, baffling her instantly.
Charlotte's eyes widened in shock, a surge of mixed emotions rushing through her body. A figure, decorated in a stunning steel blue dress, with her hair let down, strolled past the girl, and towards Aslan.
Charlotte's jaw dropped, standing completely in shock. As if the strange sight of the queen was not already surreal, a familiar king trailed behind her, with a familiar sword hanging by his waist. She recognised the patterns on its handle as hers, and she stepped back in shock.
"What's wrong, Aslan?" The King questioned as he intertwined his fingers with those of the Queen's.
"Simon, Audrey," Aslan began, "Narnia is in grave danger."
Queen Audrey shielded her lips with her palm, leaning into King Simon's chest for comfort.
"We'll stay, Aslan," King Simon suggested, "as long as you need us to."
"You've fulfilled your duty," Aslan explained, "you've learnt all you can from this world. This is a learning journey for the next Queen of Narnia."
"Who, Aslan?"
"Your sister, Jillian, will be bestowed with a heavy duty to guard the tree of protection."
Queen Audrey broke into a grin, before speaking. "Great Aslan, you know better than us."
Charlotte took a few steps back. She knew it, all along. She could not believe that she was actually right, after being told several times that she was a looney.
"But she must also be strong-willed," Aslan spoke up, "many tests await the next Queen of Narnia."
He began to recite a chant, which was accompanied by whispers echoing after him around the castle.
A great danger lurks around the tree
A cold, dark winter awaits
In her trials to defend Narnia
The protector will set it free
Should the protector make amends
with the lone offspring on Earth
She shall enter Aslan's country
Where her journey ends
"I believe in her, Great Aslan. She will do us proud."
Aslan nodded at the couple, before turning away and leaving them behind. He walked towards the castle entrance, where the sun's rays towered over them all. The closer he got, the brighter the light shone through the castle doors.
"Oh Aunt Jill," Charlotte mumbled to herself, "why did you lie to me?"
Suddenly, the floor underneath Charlotte dissipated and she found herself falling, once more, into a pool of darkness. Then, she fell onto a patch of grass. She glanced up, seeing a very young Queen with the adolescent Queen walking along the shores of Cair Paravel. The young girl had already been crowned, and embraced her sister.
[Skipping segment on Audrey and Jillian's conversation as it was reintegrated and revised]
They embraced each other in a hug as the sun set over the horizon.
Charlotte shook her head in disbelief, and wonder at the same time. Her emotions were all caked in a muddle. Before she realized it, her surroundings were morphed once more, and she found herself staggering on a ship. The bright blue skies were now replaced with dark greyish clouds with a heavy downpour, and lightning storms all around. Charlotte lost her balance, holding on to the sides of the ship.
"But Your Majesty, we're entering uncharted waters," anxiety strangled a man's words, catching Charlotte's attention.
"I have to seek answers, this may hold all the answers I need," Queen Jillian, who had now grown into her adolescence, "we have to be prepared. Aslan warned us, the White Witch is coming for the tree."
"As you wish, your Majesty."
The ship sailed straight on, despite the heavy storms ahead. Charlotte watched her very own aunt stand still with a certain confidence in her plans. She frowned to herself, pondering over the enigmatic nature the lady radiated. She was dressed in white clothes, and her hair had white highlights despite her youthful age. Something was amiss with her appearance.
Then, tides increased sharply, sending the crew into alarm. Charlotte held on tightly to the ship, her heart beating rapidly at the horrific sight of a gigantic wave approaching them. The waves engulfed the ship, and soon, Charlotte found herself struggling to find the water surface.
That was until, she found herself floating to its surface with a huge ice block. Her head burst out of the water, grabbing onto land. The ground felt smooth, and cold, that she struggled to even climb aboard. She glanced around in horror, noticing ice all around her.
"Aunt Jill, what have you done?" She felt her heart shatter into fragments at the sight of Narnia's barren state.
After a full rotation of her view, she gasped in horror as her eyes landed on the queen. She was now fully clothed in white and silver, her skin pale as snow, and her hair dyed in white. She seemed like an exact replica of how Charlotte imagined the White Witch would be. They were now right in front of the Tree of Protection. Unfortunately, its wood were contaminated with streaks of white, and its leaves and fruit had fallen to the grounds, leaving its spiky branches empty.
[Skipping the segments on Jadis' arrival, Simon and Audrey falling out with Jill as they were reintegrated, edited to remove Charlotte's presence and revised]
"Charlotte! What happened?" Lucy's voice brought her back to life. "That was quite a fall."
"Lucy!" Charlotte gasped, "I saw it all!
[See I didn't even finish the dialogue tag because that last line told me I was info-dumping by the mid-point of the story so I straight up crumpled it and tossed it aside like those characters crumpling up ideas and tossing it to the bin. But I ended up info-dumping in Chapter 29 anyway as a final reveal — but that's better than dumping it in the middle of the plot I guess 💀]
*****
[Context: Edmund and Lucy reading a letter from Mrs Pevensie — Scrapped off Chapter 28 to save on word count]
"Edmund, Edmund!"
"What? What is it, Lu?"
"A letter from Mom!"
Instantly, they gathered in Lucy's room, eager to hear the news.
Dearest Edmund and Lucy,
I hope you've been safe at the Scrubbs' household. The borders have been eased recently, and your father and I have discussed that you'd be able to come home in the next few weeks when we return from the United States. We miss you dearly, and we look forward to seeing you again. Please take care until then.
Love,
Mom
"That's wonderful news!" Charlotte rejoiced.
"That means, we don't have much time together then," Eustace responded slowly, glancing at his cousins, "I never thought I'd actually miss you when you leave."
"Cheer up, lad, we've made lots of memories here, haven't we?" Edmund ruffled his hair. "Besides, we could always come visit, and you could tell us all about your adventures in Narnia."
"What'll happen to Charlotte, then?" Eustace raised a point. "Would she have to leave too? Mother's been complaining recently..."
"Oh, you're right," Charlotte sunk against the wall, "I've been here for so long that... I've almost forgotten what it felt like living—"
[Mini conversations and cousin gossip below that were scrapped from the same chapter for the same reasons because I was so fickle minded on exploring their conversations, and was playing around with writing their conversations before Aunt Jill interrupts them all with her arrival]
Convo #1
"And... You never got a weapon of your own?" Eustace questioned, as they sat in a circle reminiscing their adventures.
"Yeah, it was why I was so upset that Peter never passed down his sword to me," Edmund revealed to him, "but now that I think about it, it was right for Cass to guard it. We were leaving for Earth, Cass was the only one to rule Narnia for a lifetime — even Charlotte would've had to leave at some point."
Convo #2
"Hang on, you mean to tell me Susan and Caspian were romantically involved?" Eustace was bewildered and abhorred by the gossip. "And they kissed?"
"They weren't exactly subtle when they first laid eyes on each other," Edmund snorted. "I knew it'd happen."
"Same way you weren't subtle trying to swoon Charlotte since we first entered Narnia?" Lucy reminded him, earning a soft giggle from Charlotte. "How'd that been working for you?"
"Hey, my efforts took a while but they worked, didn't they?" Edmund sent a smirk in Charlotte's way, smoothly throwing her a wink.
Charlotte stifled her giggles, unable to meet his gaze.
"Wha— what do you mean they worked?" Lucy caught on to his insinuations. "You kissed?
Convo #3 (it was another branch of Convo #2 as they gossiped about Suspian)
"How did you fall for Charlotte anyway? You didn't seem smitten like Caspian was the moment he saw Susan."
Charlotte pondered over Lucy's query.
"I— Wha— Do I have to disclose this to you lot?" Edmund blew a raspberry, only to be met with curious eyes fixated on him. "Alright, fine, whe—"
****
[Scene: Charlotte packing, and leaving the Scrubbs' household — Scrapped off Chapter 30 due to prioritising OC's conflict closure and pushing romance conclusion to Epilogue]
In the following week, Charlotte and her aunt coordinated with each other and arranged a day to meet. Charlotte was pleasantly surprised that her aunt was willing to drop by the Scrubbs' household after work to bring her home. Though she was older, that simple caring gesture warmed her heart, consoling her inner child.
"Need any help with packing?" Edmund poked his head through the door, greeting Charlotte who was in the midst of stuffing her last clothing items into her baggage.
"Hm? Oh, no, thanks, I've got it," she sent a seraphic smile his way, "although, I could use your company, my dear King."
Edmund immediately entered the room, planting himself beside her. He sat cross-legged in silence, watching her rearrange her clothes. She sat on her heels, placing each blouse neatly in layers.
"I'm really grateful that you decided to come back with me," Edmund broke the silence, catching her attention, "it wasn't an easy decision."
[Skips the segment on Charlotte reminiscing her parents' marriage and relating it to their relationship as it was reintegrated into the epilogue]
"I love you, Edmund Pevensie."
Edmund's features brightened at her words. His breathing became heavy at her words, containing his excitement. All along, Charlotte's demure nature had deprived him of knowing her thoughts and feelings for him. Charlotte smiled at his response. For once, Edmund Pevensie was flustered with her words of affection.
"I love you too, Charlotte Baker."
[Skips the segment of their final kiss as it was reintegrated into the epilogue]
"One more?" Edmund pleaded cheekily. Charlotte stifled her laugh, slowly giving in to his request.
"Charl— whoa, sorry," Lucy peered in, averting her gaze from the couple as they immediately distanced themselves, "hang on, what's going on here?"
"What do you want, Lu?" Edmund concealed his abashment behind a grumpy query.
"I don't believe it! You were about to kiss!"
"We already did back in Narnia, Lu," Charlotte revealed, lightly shielding her lips with a giggle.
"And nobody told me?!" Lucy's jaw dropped, and crossed her arms, demanding answers. "I'm utterly disappointed."
"Are you planning to wed once you've come of age?" She prattled on with her loquacious chatter, oblivious to Edmund's brewing vexation. "Do you plan on introducing her to Mum and Dad? Peter and Susan will have to know too!"
"Lu, why did you come in here?" Edmund questioned, displaying his agitation visibly on his face.
"Right, right, Charlotte, your aunt's at the door to pick you up." Lucy announced, "I'll let her know that you'd be down soon."
With a giggle, she shut the door.
"Now, where were we?" Edmund alluded with a smirk, inching closer.
Charlotte shook her head in amusement at his eagerness, halting his lips with her finger.
"Two minutes?" He pleaded. "I'm going to miss living under the same roof, I'll be left unsatisfied."
Charlotte leaned closer. "When we wed each other, one day, we can find a home together where we'll be satisfied."
Edmund's cheeks grew red again at the mention of marriage. "Alright then, let's go."
Edmund, being the chivalrous gentleman he was, offered to lift her baggage downstairs. As they went down the steps, Aunt Jill and Lucy came into their view at the front door. Eustace stood at the door too, awaiting their exit with a sentimental smile.
"I'm grateful your hospitality, Eustace," Charlotte lowered herself to his level, "when your mother wasn't keen on letting me stay, you advocated for me. I'll always be grateful for that."
"Oh— Well, it's no problem," Eustace glossed over it, "it was really because you'd been so kind and polite to me from the moment you'd arrived, and that's what I told Mother."
"Take care, Eustace," Edmund ruffled his cousin's hair, and turned to greet Charlotte's caregiver. "Ma'am."
Charlotte and Lucy gave each other a sisterly embrace, silently bidding their goodbyes.
"Mom's waiting for us," Lucy informed Edmund, gesturing with her head that they had to urgently take their leave.
"Just a moment," Edmund turned to Charlotte, handing her baggage, "shall we have a chat over the phone at night?"
Charlotte nodded, breaking into a grin as she took it from him. "I look forward to it."
Edmund gently planted a tender kiss on her cheek, bidding her goodbye as he left with Lucy. Charlotte broke into a bashful grin, shielding her cheek, as Aunt Jill raised her eyebrows.
"You both really are like your parents," she commented, "I hope he proposes to you one day."
Charlotte was still trapped in her smile.
"He will, I'm certain of it."
"So, are you ready to come home, and start anew together?" Aunt Jill reached her palm out, offering to help the young girl with her baggage.
Charlotte beamed.
"Let's go home."
*****
Yeah, I think some of these moments actually added value to the story in some ways. They could have been developed further, but I'm satisfied with the final cut. It's up to you to decide if any of these are canon to the fanfic 🥹