that was such a difficult prompt to come up with an idea for! I think this one is good though!
Although those four years were long, they were fruitful.
It was a strange time period for everyone, one of indefinite waiting to reach a point that was unclear. But periods of waiting are often periods of improvement.
For the earth natives who spent those years in foreign lands, that time was a lesson in living with less than what they were used to, making use of what they had. Some were more accustomed to having less than others, but all were in an unusual situation.
Shiloh and Acacia in the Bridgelands spent most of their time outside since that land had no buildings (which made sense since no one permanently lived there). It was a good thing there also wasn't bad weather there. It didn't provide much to do, so they had to come up with ways to spend the time on their own. They didn't come up with any permanent solutions to make the place more suitable for living people, but they did come out of the experience each with one more friend than she'd had before.
In the Valley of Souls, Bonnie and Sapphira were not idle with their time. Not only did they learn how to swordfight, they learned plenty more from the books they borrowed from the one building with the invisible entrance. Life there was a lot stranger than before for Bonnie. This dimension also was not made for living humans to inhabit, instead created to suit its one intended inhabitant, and she was only a guest. It was a big change for Sapphira too, but even this was more than the life she was used to.
Those sent to Second Eden put their effort into improving physically and preparing as much as they could for the coming war. There was some technological advancement in a relatively short time courtesy of Ashley. She and Walter both used that time to learn to fly the plane. Elam learned a lot about being a leader- just being called to be one didn't automatically qualify him, and he had little experience in the first place, not having spent time with many people at once in the past at all. Billy and Walter both noticed they were more independent than they'd ever had to be at the end of those four years. They all found themselves closer to who they were meant to be than they had been before.
And the ones left on earth did the best they could to figure out the technology to reopen the portals. They learned over time that hope could hold out stronger than they had known.
They all learned a lot about themselves and other people. The difficulties in those years only served to make them stronger. It helped them to grow accustomed to change and to learn to be happy in whatever situation they ended up in. And most of all, they all came through it looking a little more like love and light than ever before.