Cave
Kamchatka Wilderness
Soviet Union
1960
"Shorty, I want the light," Emily trembled outside the city of Diya's underground gates. "I need to know I'm not back there."
Shorty obeyed and set his cigarette lighter on one of the boundary stones forming a small circle of flame that revealed Indy seated on the ground, his back against one of the boundary stones, holding his grown daughter like a child as she trembled covered in cold mud and ash from trying to tunnel under the wall.
Indy smiled. "Em, when you were thirteen, I remember a little girl who didn't want to grow up, and now almost five years later, she's an amazing young lady who is brilliant, charming, strong and talented. Remember what I told you then? At thirteen?"
She sniffed. "That I didn't have to like it - but I shouldn't let it stop me?"
"Yeah. That's it." Indy lifted her chin, took part of his shirt and started dabbing away her tears. "The same thing's true about fear, hon. I'm terrified of snakes, yet I got your mother out of snake pit. You're terrified of small spaces and you're gonna get through this and then look back and say, 'it wasn't fun... but I won.'"
Emily blinked, trying to force her body to return to normal. It didn't work. "Didn't I do that in the tomb when I was four?!" Her trembling returned. "And again when I was stuck in the crevasse in the China? How many times to do I have to do this before it over and I'm not afraid any more?" She pulled away from Indy and hid her face. "How does this look like a win?" She clenched her fists, digging into the ground, cowering in shame. "Panicking in a ball on the ground doesn't feel like a victory!"
Indy took her hand and pulled her back to him where he could hold her. His voice was gentle, yet the truth cut through her pain and fear. "Em, the only time you lose is to not get out alive. Every survival is a victory."
Emily refused to meet Indy's gaze. "Then why does my body feel like its going to die every times I get into an enclosed space?"
"Your body is protecting you. I taught you self-defense when you were little, because I wanted you to feel protected when I wasn't around. Every person has a self-defense system inside them. It may not look like throwing punches, but this trembling and shaking... it's protecting you. It's a freeze reaction, instead of a fight reaction like you prefer."
"I hate it!" Emily blurted. "It makes me feel like a wimp!"
"You're not a wimp, Emily. You're my Littlest Artifact and I love you."
YOU ARE READING
The Seven Swords of Diya: An Indiana Jones Fan Fiction - Part 2
FanficPart 2: Indiana Jones and his daughter Emily Ravenwood Jones continue their adventure in the frozen Soviet peninsula of Kamchatka, searching for seven mystical swords. With them is Indy's bodyguard from 1935 India - Short Round, grown up! And his re...
