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INDIANA JONES
lxxviii. A FINAL CONFESSION

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PEACE. CALAMITY. THESE WERE two things that were hard to achieve after a lifetime of adventure. To merely count on her fingers of every quest she had gone on was impossible. No matter how big or small, Indiana considered almost everything she did an adventure. She found life itself to be filled with effervescence.

For the first time in a long time, Indiana was aware. She was alert. For the first time, Indiana Jones knew she was dreaming. She knew she was dreaming when she felt as though her body was floating and her feet had been standing on top of fluffy, white clouds. She slowly took in the sight of her ethereal surroundings. Indiana had dreamt of a place like this before. She always seemed to be dreaming of a safe haven with the ones she loved more than even herself.

The only downside that came with these dreams was that they typically ended with some kind of disaster. Whether it was a monster or the death of everyone she cared for, her dreams now that she was in the Underworld never ended happily.

However, Indiana knew she was dreaming when there was only one detail that stood out. Peter wasn't there, nor was Killian or Snow or anyone for that matter. Indiana was alone.

She merely assumed that she was alone and waited for what she assumed to come. "Perhaps I'll get eaten by a 5-headed beast," Indiana mused as she walked around the familiar haven. "Or maybe I'll get beat up by Peter or even Henry." She laughed to herself, knowing that boy could hardly hurt a fly.

"I can assure you there will be no fights here, Miss." Eyebrows furrowed, Indiana turned around to see a man she did not recognize. Still, he gave her a warm smile that could have fooled anyone into thinking that he and Indiana were old friends. "Hello, Indiana."

Silent, the young woman cautiously observed the man. "This is new," pondered Indiana after a moment. She stalked around the man. "Are you supposed to be something that'll make me cry myself awake?" She paused. "Maybe a grown up Lost Boy? Or the Shadow?" Indiana shivered at the thought of the black silhouette reappearing in her life.

The man chuckled, but shook his head. "I'm afraid you aren't dreaming," the man declared.

"Well, that's preposterous!" Indiana declared stubbornly, throwing her hands in the air. "If I'm not dreaming, then I'm awake, which would mean that I would be in the Underworld right now. As lovely as the Underworld is, it definitely doesn't look as ethereal as whatever this place is. So, if you'd please, just... get on with whatever it is you're about to do to me. I'd like to wake up now."

"Indiana, this is what I call a second chance," the man started to explain as he walked around. "Before you say anything, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Zeus."

Both of Indiana's eyebrows shot upward as she repeated, "Zeus? As in God of the Heavens? As in the guy who took my brothers from me and brought them to a better place?" She paused. "How are they? Are they well? Does Killian still have a hook or are weapons, like, not allowed in Heaven?"

Zeus laughed at her words. "Charming. You're more concerned about your family rather than asking a more important question," Zeus noted out loud.

"What could be more important than my brothers?" she queried. A lightbulb went off in her head. "Oh! How's Felix? And his sister, Annie?"

The God continued to walk around, observing the worn columns that stood tall around them. He wore an amused facial expression. "To summarize, they're all well. However, if you really want to know about your brother, Killian..." Zeus trailed off, his smile the opposite of jaded. "He's not exactly with us up here."

Indiana felt whatever gap replaced her heart stop. "What do you—?"

"He's among the living," Zeus interrupted, "which was what I was attempting to inform you of. I gave him a second chance. He showed his worth through endless good deeds, and I can assure you he's still doing this on the land of the living."

A hum escaped her pink lips as she took in this information. A smile tugged at her lips. "Good," Indiana finally said, clearly satisfied. "I'm proud of him. My Killian only deserves eternal happiness, and that's what he's getting."

"You've really changed, Indiana," Zeus mentioned, strolling around some more. "I've been keeping a special eye on you for quite some time... looked into your background... It's quite intriguing learning how your heart has turned to the light."

Indiana stared at him, confused. "I don't know what you mean, Ze—uh, sir," Indiana admitted.

"Zeus is fine," he told her. "As I was saying, you've changed. You've let love and light into your heart. Tell me, what comes to your mind when you hear the word 'love'?"

"Peter," Indiana instantaneously answered. She couldn't help but smile widely when she said his name. "Yeah. Peter. Without a doubt."

"Hm..." Zeus trailed off. "Why?"

"Why? What do you mean why?" Indiana demanded. "He's my soul mate, or whatever it's called these days!"

"Tell me... what is it that makes you feel this way about Peter?" Zeus continued to interrogate.

Indiana sighed loudly. "Uh... I mean... I don't know. What kind of question is that?" Indiana mumbled. When she noticed the look Zeus gave her, she sighed again. "Okay. Fine. Um... I don't know. He's nice... kinda."

"Dig deeper, Indiana."

"Um... I like his smile. And his eyes. Oh, and I love that thing he does with his eyebrows. I don't know why though. I used to hate it," Indiana rambled. "I love his hands and I love his hugs."

"Deeper..." Zeus urged.

"I... I guess I..." She paused, thinking.

She dug into the deepest parts of her brain. What was it that she liked so much about Peter in the first place?

"I like... how passionate he gets about things," Indiana finally started after a long moment of silence, of thinking. She could feel herself smiling widely again. "Peter had this... this wonderful talent--to pull you straight out of reality. He could just... just reach into the seams of the impossible and draw you in, you know?"

"Elaborate," was all Zeus told her.

"Hm, well... He could show you a new reality, a world you'd never seen before," Indiana explained, her words beginning to slur together the more ecstatic she got. "New possibilities, new variables, new endings, and new beginnings. He was all of those things for me." She laughed to herself. "His imagination and mine together entertained each other for years until they were one being, inseparable."

She frowned.

"Until now," the brunette added. "But still... nonetheless, I love him. I'll always love Peter."

Zeus beamed at her, almost like a teacher to a student. The room around them suddenly got brighter if that were even possible. Perhaps Indiana was just too used to the red-hued world she'd lived in for nearly 4 years. It was crazy how she'd been dead for almost 4 entire years... 1460 days...

Indiana hadn't even realized that she'd been crying until Zeus came forward and wiped away a tear with his thumb. "I had a feeling that was your unfinished business," Zeus mentioned. Before Indiana could respond, he continued. "Don't tell anyone this, but as Gods, we tend to pick favorites. In your case, you just happened to intrigue me to the point where you became one of my favorite mortals."

The girl laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. "I don't believe you," Indiana mumbled, wiping her tears. "Hades told me this before. He was toying with me." She sniffled. "Why have you brought me here, Zeus? To get me to confess my love for my boyfriend?"

"Yes, actually," Zeus confirmed.

"Huh?"

"See, your unfinished business was one I knew you would never figure out on your own," Zeus explained. "In your 200 years of existence--"

"182," Indiana corrected.

"Ah, yes. In your 182 years of existence, you have not once accepted love into your heart, at least not verbally," Zeus continued.

"So you mean to tell me my unfinished business was confessing my love for my boyfriend?" Indiana deadpanned. She scoffed. "What a load of--"

Zeus interrupted her once more, "Not precisely. You must look deeper into it, Indiana. You have not once accepted love into your heart. Your actions alone was not enough to break the curse the Underworld put on its citizens. However, I've watched you for quite a long time. You've grown into a mature, young woman. You've proved yourself worthy."

Indiana still wasn't getting it. "Worthy of what? Do I get to go to Heaven now?" she wondered.

Zeus shook his head. "At the beginning of our conversation, I told you that this was what I liked to call a second chance," he reminded her. "That second chance was to get your to fulfill your unfinished business through a final confession. That along with your recent actions in the past few years have shown me that you are more than worthy enough of a gift – a gift that I only give to a handful of people."

"And to think, it's not even my birthday," Indiana joked under her breath. Clearing her throat, she asked, "What is it?"

"Why don't you turn around and see?" Zeus suggested. "And before you do that, you're welcome in advance."

Then, a white light blinded Indiana Jones for the second time.

➖➖➖

Peace. Calamity. These were two things that were hard to achieve after a lifetime of adventure. To merely count on her fingers of every quest Indiana had gone on was impossible. No matter how big or small, Indiana considered almost everything she did an adventure. She found life to be filled with effervescence.

For the first time in a long time, Indiana was calm. Her eyes were shut, not because she was asleep, but because she had nearly been blinded by a God. It was like she had aligned her soul with a higher power. Indiana Jones was at peace.

Everything was quiet.

And then, there it was.

It was small, but it was there. Indiana knew what she had heard.

What Indiana Jones had heard was a bird.

It chirped and sang, its sweet tune flowing in one ear and out the other. The small sound the creature made gave Indiana bittersweet memories of Neverland and the Enchanted Forest. She recalled running through fields and meadows with the Lost Boys or Snow White, and how in the end, Indiana would allow the birds to sing her to sleep. She remembered taking Henry Mills on adventures when she was still considered his Nanny.

Had Indiana not be so invested in what she was thinking about, it was possible that she wouldn't have heard footsteps and voices of people loudly speaking to one another in the background. However, due to the way she had trained herself, Indiana was always alert. She had never let anyone sneak up on her.

And so, Indiana opened her eyes to a world filled with plants and life in general. It didn't take her long to process where she was. She recognized this land. She knew it like the back of her hand. This wasn't hell or heaven, or even a state of purgatory. Indiana knew just where she was.

Perhaps that was why Indiana inhaled a large gulp of sweet, fresh air and released a soul-shaking scream.

"Did you hear that?"

"What the hell was that?"

"More like who the hell was that?"

Ignoring the voices in the background for once, she looked down at her hands. She no longer had a ghostly pale tone to her skin. They were sunkissed as the shook vigorously. The sun shone down on her body as she anxiously looked around.

"What the hell...?" Indiana said to herself, not caring how loud she was. For all she knew, she had landed in a new realm and had revealed her location to some kind of villain. Indiana looked up at the sky. The fluffy clouds sailed through the blue ocean of a sky, covering the sun every once in a while. "What the hell! Zeus!? Where the hell am I!?"

But Indiana knew where she was. She knew exactly where she was. She'd traveled every inch of this forest before at least twice in her before-life.

Then, there it was.

"Oh my God... Indiana?" a voice came. "Is that you...?"

"If this is some kind of sick joke, I swear to the Gods I'll... I'll...!" Indiana angrily shouted. She felt a hand place itself her shoulder. "Don't fucking touch me, Zeu--" Indiana whipped around, ready to bring her fist to whoever was touching her. Then, she froze. "Snow?"

The motherly face of Snow White stared at Indiana with shock stamped on her face. Tears swirled around her blue-green eyes. "Indiana!" Snow shouted, hugging her tightly. She hugged the brunette so tightly that she could hardly breathe.

How was this happening? Could Indiana even be so sure as to believe this all was true? After all, it could be another mind-trick played by the fates or by the Underworld. Indiana didn't know what to believe, so instead, the girl brought her arms up and hugged Snow White.

"I-I-I don't understand!" Snow confessed loudly before pulling away from the hug. "You're dead! Or... you... you were?" She looked over her shoulder and loudly projected to someone, "Over here! I found something!"

Indiana continued to look down at her hands. She couldn't believe this was happening. "I-I... Zeus, he..." Indiana trailed off. It was impossible for Indiana to form proper sentences as the realization hit her like a wrecking ball.

However, it seemed to click with Snow, but before she could speak, there were more voices. They all said along the same thing.

"Oh my God."

"Indiana?"

"Is that a ghost?"

"Ghosts don't exist, Regina."

"Oh, pardon me, daughter of Snow White and Prince fucking Charming."

Then, there was a small squeak that came from a person in the back who pushed his way forward. "Indie?"

Indiana felt her heart skip a beat for the first time in ages. "Peter."

Seeing him again in the flesh was something Indiana never thought she'd be able to do. She assumed that the last time Indiana saw Peter would be the last time forever. But there he was. He was right in front of her, yet all Indiana could do was burst into tears.

Indiana knew that she would hear about this for the rest of her life, but in that moment, she didn't care. Even when Indiana's knees gave in on her, Peter was there. He was always there. He was the only person she wanted.

Everything was moving so quickly, but all Indiana knew to do was one thing.

She looked up at Peter as she cried into his chest. "I love you."

Peter smiled down at her. It seemed that all of them were a crying mess almost immediately. "I love you, too—"

"No," Indiana interrupted, sniffling. "I mean it. I love you. I love you. I love you. I'll say it for the rest of my life."

Everyone looked around at each other. "Are you okay, Indie?" Peter asked her quietly, not used to the sudden affection from her.

Indiana scoffed. "Ask me that question again and I'll hit you."

Peace and calamity were two of the hardest things to achieve after a lifetime of adventure, but for the first time, Indiana knew that she would have that for the rest of her existence.

Together, Indiana Jones and Peter Pan were at peace, for their souls had been intertwined as one.