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If Marion had learned anything during her life, it was that she could endure much more than she had thought she could.
Not that she had ever had a choice.
When her mother had died, and it had just been her and her father, it had not been that bad at first. Or maybe she had been too young to recognize being caged.
Maybe now, after everything that had happened she wanted to forgive Indiana. Or at least move past of that all.
But for the longest time she had seen what happened between them as the catalyst for everything going wrong in her life.
"What is your father like?" Marion mumbled, leaning into Willie's touch.
"Hm?" Willie let her fingers brush through Marion's hair, before starting to gently run the brush through them once more. "He's nice. A bit... Focused on the whole poultry farm business. Very limited interests. Never appreciated my choice of career."
"Hm."
Willie sounded fond, nevertheless.
Marion had loved her father. Of course she had, he was her father, it was the done thing.
But when she had thought Indiana would marry her and take her away she had been eager to jump at the chance.
It hadn't been an escape attempt, not really. Her father had not been her jailer, obviously. Even after the unpleasantness with Indiana, when her father had started to look at every interaction his daughter had with young men with suspicion...
Marion leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes.
It had been the damned Ark. The obsession it had bred in her father's mind... He had sold his house in Chicago and dragged Marion with him from one miserable location across the globe to the other.
She had traveled and yes, had at times seen amazing sights. The pyramids in Egypt. The temples in India. Giraffes in Africa. But she had been so lonely. At times Marion had managed to make friends. But as soon as her father realized it he had once more pulled her close to his side.
My little baby bird.
That's what he had called her when she had been a girl. And as she grew into a woman he just hadn't wanted to admit it. Had just seen her as his baby girl who needed to be protected from strangers. That was what father did, right?
And then he had died. Marion opened her eyes and stared at the wall of their small bedroom, eager to ground herself.
Abner Ravenwood had died and left Marion to fend for herself middle of the icy mountains in Nepal. But she had survived. Had even convinced herself that she had thrived. But eventually the small life she had managed to scrape together for herself had been destroyed in a blaze when Indiana Jones had crashed through her life.
In some ways it was simpler to think of Indy and how she felt about him. She was at peace with that now. On the other hand-
"My father," she started. She paused, trying to gather her thoughts. "My father lost his mind to his Ark obsession."
"Those sort of things seem to do it to you," Willie said. "Arks and stones and other ominous archaeologey things."
"Yes."
A silence fell. Eventually Marion spoke.
"I think. That I have endured a lot. I am not saying this to get pity, just an observation. But it taught me I am far tougher than I thought. And I turned out like that because of everything I went through, so I am glad."
Maybe if she said it out loud she could believe it.
Willie embraced her.