Catch me if I fall

Chapter 1

From the empty streets of Italy, golden runes appeared etched on the stone floor, and a girl tumbled out. Black cloak pooled around her, and her clothes were pristine but for the white inner shirt that was torn over her heart and soaked with blood.

Harry shuddered, once, twice, and with gritted teeth forced her body up. Except she couldn't and so she settled for a half crouched position with one hand on the ground and pressed the other to her chest, only to feel mended flesh.

She panted heavily. The phantom pain in her chest ached terribly.

Green eyes quickly landed on the abandoned silver dagger lying next to her, its blade soaked with dark red blood and still pulsating with power.

She had failed to die.

Again.

All those sacrifices, the morals she had thrown away after all this time, the path she had taken that she just couldn't undo-

In a flash of temper, Harry grabbed for the dagger, to hurl it away, to take her frustration out on something. Except once her hand made contact with the dagger…

Pain worse than the Cruciatus wracked her ruined body.

Harry shrieked, her cry filled with pain and fear and regret.

And green eyes the same shade as the killing curse closed shut as she fell to the ground with a thud.

When Harry regained consciousness, it was to greasy hands stroking her cheeks with deceptively gentle fingers.

Her breath stilled.

"It seems our prisoner is awake. Hello, princess," said the smiling man next to her. "I'm curious. I assure you, I have never before felt such strange power- not flames, not quite- and this dagger, over there." He pointed to her cursed dagger, in a case of glass. "Quite the dangerous weapon, now isn't it?"

He tapped the leather restraints strapping her to the iron bed.

"I'll let you go if you tell," he teased lightly.

Liar. The man had no intention of letting her go.

Harry's lips stretched into a cruel smile.

"I don't take orders," her mind dived into his- "Antonio."

The man's eyes widened. He attempted to jump back, yelling for the others to clear out as well.

Harry tore through her binds with magic, and prepared another blast to kill them away. She needed to buy time. She had no idea where she was, and she'd prefer to be in a universe she had knowledge about, so she would take care of this quickly.

Except-

She felt her magic strain.

"Fuck," she hissed as she realized exactly what had happened.

The dagger. She had theorized that her magic that was linked with the hallows had been preventing her death, and she'd created it specifically to circumvent her own magic. She had thought she had only failed- but she'd actually partially succeeded.

Brilliant Harry Potter had managed to fuck things up again.

No death, and no magic as well?

Just seconds after her realization that her magic would be gone, her magic went haywire and snapped. As her magic broke, the sky flames she had worked so hard to keep down burst open like a dam breaking apart.

Sky flames danced around her.

No, no, no, no, no...

No.

Not her flames. She couldn't lose control of her flames. She didn't want to Harmonize, not again, not anymore. Her sanity was as fragile as it already was, she knew she couldn't bear any more losses.

"A Sky?" someone shouted eagerly. It was as if they had all temporarily forgotten the fear they had felt due to her magic, drunk on her stupidly powerful Sky attraction. A different gleam entered their eyes, and Harry felt like throwing up.

Pressure built against her flames.

They were Storm flames, trying to force a bond with her. No. She-

But Harry's flames craved Harmony. It had been decades since the last bond, and Harry had only ever repressed it deeper and deeper into herself. Her flames didn't want to be stuck again.

Storm flames joined with Lightning, Sun, Rain, Mist…. All power hungry and greasy, and Harry wanted out.

Harry was never going to sit still and watch herself be destroyed again. She was never going to be attached to them, she would destroy them all before something like that would happen.

Xanxus had been on a simple clean up mission. A rather small mafia famiglia, newly formed, had been involving civilians in their mess.

When he arrived, he didn't expect to find such a powerful Sky harmonizing unwillingly with the famiglia's filthy members.

He pitied the girl, but had no use for weaklings who couldn't control their own Harmony. It was unfortunate, she probably had never been involved in her new famiglia's crimes, but would get punished along with them nonetheless. After all, she was their Sky.

But Xanxus saw something he'd never imagined was possible in front of his very eyes at that moment.

The Sky was rather small, looking to be about seventeen or so, with black hair and Sky-flame drenched eyes. But instead of breaking down or turning passive to her new Guardians after her bond, she turned to attacking her own self.

Breaking apart her own Sky flames into tiny splinters with her will alone. Will that showed how much she hated her bond, shown by denying her own instincts as a bonded Sky by harming her own Guardians.

Because by breaking her flames, she was also breaking the flames of her new-found Guardians in return.

They screamed and twitched under her, but the tiny slip of a girl showed no mercy. Her powerful Sky flames prevented her Guardians from attacking her in return, overwhelming them utterly despite the ordeal she was going through.

Xanxus drank up everything; the sight of her as she killed them, one by one, by tearing herself apart.

The Guardians were dead. And-

Cloud flames swirled around her, as if released by the breaking of the Sky. Green eyes glared at Xanxus, but her glare seemed to go right through him. He doubted she saw him. But her new flames were focused on his Sky, and it possessively twisted onto his.

It seemed as if it would force its way to a bond even if he rejected her flames. His face twisted into a pleased, vicious smirk, despite her terrible manners.

Smart girl, he thought, admiring, and let access to his own Sky.

She was powerful enough not to die instantly after such an ordeal, and she planned to protect her sanity and life by using him as an anchor.

And Xanxus would be lying if he said he was not taken in by her strength. He wanted her.

The bond settled, and the girl passed out.

Xanxus picked her up.

Harry woke to strong arms holding her. She felt warm, safe and at home.

Her eyes snapped open, fear filling her heart. She was… bonded? After all that struggle not to, after breaking her own flames apart, and killing those who dared, exactly how had this happened?!

"Awake?" purred a deep voice next to her ear.

She caught a sight of feathers and red eyes, and felt hatred, deep utter hatred mixing with the feeling of home and safety.

Fuck.

AN: Truth is, when I wrote HMR I wanted it to be Xanxus/Harry, not that the story was focused on romance. Except Hibari decided to be involved. Now, failing that (not that I regret Hibari showing up) here's a new fic.

The title was a toss up between With my last breath, Catch me if(when) I fall, and Unhinged.

The updates will be random as it is with the rest of my stories. Thanks for reading, and review!