Her vision of the world under the water represented a beautiful stillness, a version of heaven. It was the lost city of Lena, her alternate universe, the life she yearned for but didn't get to have.

You know what the secret is? It's so simple. We love one another. We're nice to one another. Do you know how rare that is? - Carmen

I love her. I need her. I gave away everything I had for her. I just wanted her to know me.

She was still waiting for him to come back to her, even though he wasn't going to. She was still holding out for something that wasn't going to happen. She was good at waiting. That seemed like a sad thing to be good at.

I love the idea of fictional worlds kind of all cohering in some way.

Everything good requires sacrifices.

She got tired of herself. She got tired of not being able to say what she wanted or do what she wanted or even want what she wanted.