XF → Harry Hook [2]?

The world slowed to a crawl. It was as if someone had pressed a button on reality, forcing it to slow down, and it gave XJ enough time to see – really, see – everything.

She saw the falcon plummeting towards Harry, a small figure on the ground amongst the destruction she had sown. She saw its razor-edged beak, ichor still dripping from it, and in her mind's eye she saw it mixed with crimson. She saw her father ready to kill the only person who knew her better than his soon-to-be murderer – if Shan Yu hadn't known what made her tick, he wouldn't have targeted Harry.

XJ's mind raced, logic squashing panic as best as it could. She had trained herself to do so, but now, hysteria rose within her like never before. XJ couldn't protect Harry, not while her mother continued to siphon magic from her. Even if she managed to deflect Shan Yu's initial attack on him, there would come a time when she simply lacked the power, and then Harry would die.

There was only one option that she could think of. Less than a year ago, it would have been unthinkable. She would have preferred death. It was like losing a limb, as if actively throwing away her lifelong objective, the one thing that had always driven her forward, the goal that had molded who she was, wasn't bad enough. But now...

Her own words echoed through her head, words that she had whispered to Harry near the beginning of the end:

"I value your life over mine."

Through all the lies and all the truths and everything in between, this was the most genuine thing XJ had ever uttered. And now, it was what anchored her.

So, when Shan Yu was merely a few feet away from gouging Harry's eyes out, XJ erupted.

A supernova of gold and red, its force swatting Shan Yu aside. It shoved Huli Jing into the ground, who gave out an astounded bark. Harry was sent sprawling, but before he could collide with a piece of keeled-over trunk, a figure, halfway between a dragon and a girl, flew towards him like a jet.

XJ grabbed him by the arm, her skin red hot. Whether she burnt Harry or not, she would find out later. Right now, she needed all the concentration she could muster. She could already feel her magic fleeing – it was awful, resembling the sensation of blood being drained out of her in waterfalls of rouge.

Her fingers shook as she threw all she had left into a golden oval. It laid horizontal on the ground like a sinkhole, a flurry of gold that was already diminishing in light. XJ could feel the blood in her temples, roaring like the dragon she had been only seconds before.

Come on, come on. She thought desperately. Forcing magic out of her body while keeping just enough to smash the barriers of space and time made her forehead want to split itself open. She let out a cry of exertion, lost in the cyclone of gold that enveloped all that was around her.

And then, finally, halfway across the world and a decade beyond, XJ felt the other end of her portal open.

Without wasting another second, XJ shoved Harry through. His yell was silenced as he fell, disappearing into another plane of existence. He was safe, but XJ couldn't breathe a sigh of relief just yet. There was one last thing.

She turned to see a pair of golden fox eyes staring at her.

"Are you sure?"

XJ nodded, unconsciously attempting to cling onto what could possibly be the last she would ever hear of her mother's voice. "You never needed my help – only my magic."

A flicker of sorrow. A hint of regret. It wasn't enough. "Feng - "

"Jun." she corrected, yet the previous edge to her tone was gone. It was replaced with exhaustion. "Do you know why I changed my name?"