There have been times when Buffy herself has been of similar mindset, not as it relates to Dawn — she was created from and for Buffy herself, after all — but regarding her mom. Both her parents, even, back when she was utterly convinced that she'd been the reason for their divorce. That's not the case anymore, not because she's less insecure but because she's channeled that into anger, wanting nothing to do with her father any longer. (That works out, she thinks bitterly, as he wants nothing to do with his daughters, either.) She used to believe, however, that it was her calling which ruined everything for the Summers family, that if only she'd been normal, they could have stayed together. If she'd been normal, her mother wouldn't have had so hard a time.

"You disagree," she guesses, her thoughts returning at last to Ishiah. In some part, it's true that she's diverting from having to talk about herself, but there's so much about Ishiah that's mysterious, she can't pretend not to be interested.