Naya Barakat Al-Jabir retrieves the news with a somberness.
She hadn't really liked Poppiya. She was not family, she was not truly a friend, she had disappeared for years, abandoning people Naya herself cared about with seemingly, little care herself.
But still, Naya had seen Anatoliy search for her. She had helped in the effort, she had seen him tear himself up over Poppiya's disappearance, assured himself she was alive despite Naya trying to get him to move on. So, she sits, and she writes. Condolences were to be made, even if she hadn't cared much for the woman. For Ilya, at least, she could be kind to her memory.
Aleksey Godunov was nearly 6 when he had fully met Poppiya, his own mother. Now, at the mere age of 10, she was gone again. For a short time did the boy know her beyond statuettes, letters and paintings. He vaguely remembers, once, being told he could meet her through a painting, that he could pick anywhere to hang it just a few Siant's days before he finally met her.
And now she was gone again, and this time she wasn't just "far away", under disguise unbeknownst to her own son and trying to live a new life. Something Aleksey still doesn't understand. No, she was gone, and though Aleksey had adjusted quickly to her coming home, he wasn't sure how he'd adjust to her leaving it.