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S studies the fire that encircles the city. He notices a figure skulking at the foot of the lighthouse and watching him moving away from the catastrophe. S then contemplates the identity of the person who helps him in the plaza. The long, dark hair shows that she is a woman. “[…] his mind tells him. It was Sola.” Once again, S passes by Sola, only to moves away from her right after the encounter.

In her footnote, FXC expresses her feeling to Straka, a sentiment that resembles that of S. “I feel similarly about Straka. He has been dead for three years now, and I feel Time taking me farther and farther away from this marvelous writer. […]I shall do my best to keep him alive, if only through his words.” Straka’s death has a dramatic impact on FXC, who is suspected by Eric and Jen to have fallen in love with Straka. The passage of time, however, seems to have distanced FXC’s connection with Straka, although she pledges to keep Straka’s readership alive.

Eric points out that FXC fakes her death in Feira Nova with the help with Arturo’s cousin. When asked by Jen about whether FXC had “got over Straka at some point”, Eric replies:

“I don’t think so. Think she just found a place for herself in a small group of people who cared about her.”

Eric also reveals that FXC had been married for 5 years, with a “‘A nice man.’, which, obv., isn’t what she’d hoped for when she was younger.” In a note made later in time, Jen responds: “[A nice man] It’s not what I’m hoping for either. Life is too short”, again expressing her feeling for Eric.