Just lovely -- bittersweet and understated and hedged with both hope and the possibility of loss, just as life would be at this stage. You keep Poppy and Minerva in excellent canon character: strong, outspoken, caring, and with the perfect touch of believable, forthright impatience. I can well imagine that Poppy would be reluctant to teach, and I can equally see why Minerva would want her to. Years slip by so easily, and then one day, all of a sudden, you realize how little time might be left.

I love the note of cautious promise on which you end.

Such a fine read; thank you.

(The icon is from a Minerva/Poppy art drawn by the excellent mothwing. It seems perfect for this story.)