This was a very good chapter/story. A little bittersweet but very nice. I do hope there is more somewhere.

What was that? That... made absolutely no sense. What part in the entire series made you think would make Dawn treat Xander even remotely like that? It's like she acted specifically to give Buffy a problem to solve. Not to mention it's a direct contradiction to the way she acted three short paragraphs or so before. A reverse deus ex machina?

Earlier Dawn had hugged him, that was all. I had intentionally drawn the parallels between Dawn and Cordelia earlier to emphasize that Dawn, especially when drunk, would behave differently in front of her followers as opposed to when the two were alone. Also, towards the end of season six, Dawn was developing a healthy case of Spike worship which would also contribute to her attitude. I appreciate the review and can understand the source of your confusion. It simply means that I need to do a better job of creating the background, so thank you.