Warning: Occurs post-series and contains spoilers.
It was still taking a while to settle in, really.
Jade kept waking up wanting to draft up battle plans, in order to figure out the best methods to take resources by surprise and with as little casualities as possible. She fell asleep with several of these plans already mapped out in her head, and when she leapt to her feet to write them out and perhaps show them to Feldspar or Graveheart, she had to catch her breath and shake herself out of it - for Graveheart was no longer a soldier and Feldspar was dead. And she? She was queen, in a time of peace. She no longer had to think of ways to stab other peoples in the back.
Cryos relished in every single day that he woke up without a shout or a panicked report. He relished in the way his people seemed to just grow, the population no longer culled by the death of sons and fathers and uncles. When he finished a day dealing only with common and boring civil duties, his heart soared.
Pyrus, now that he was getting used to things, was starting to make some serious changes that challenged a lot of different people. He started proposing ideas and edicts that challenged centuries' worth or close-mindedness, something that no one on Fire had had the time to address before. Small moves, subtle nudges, and yet everything seemed to change. A sort of relief flooded through the Battle Moons of Fire, even to those who had immigrated to Planet Sand. Pyrus was open in his belief that everyone - everyone - was equal regardless of "class" or sex, and he made it clear that this was something he had planned to do all along. But in the back of his mind, all he could think of was a certain young woman who fought tusk and gun to get equal rights - and eventually he had to admit, that maybe he did it for her, too.
Femur's rule was never challenged. It was odd, since a regime change usually happened on Bone every five years at the least. The last was with Sternum's poisoning (not for lack of trying on Pelvus's part), but ever since Sternum returned and seemed to stand behind Femur as a sort of chancellor, the flurry for the throne died down and eventually came into nothing. Femur thought it was a riot, and often joked with Sternum that it was meant to be and that the best thing he did for the planet was throw Sternum into a cell. Things like these, however, were usually met with backhands or slaps - and Femur would have deserved it, too.
Zera knew the irony of things, that the moment she became a warrior, the war was over. But that didn't stop her from continuing her studies under Jade or practise her marksmanship with Cryos. That didn't stop her from eventually enlisting as a Glacial Troop officially. And when she rose in ranks and aided in the maintenance of not only her own planet's peace, but planets outside of it, she didn't realise it then, but she was already a legend.
Tekla made her home on Planet Ice, watching the gaping wound of centuries of war slowly close over and heal before her eyes. She was privy to it all, watching cities rebuild and treaties be signed. She was a key player in all of these proceedings, an honourable member of each planet, despite her choosing to live on Ice. She also knew, somehow, that she was a subtle reminder of what had been, that long period of doubt and fear, and that now, merely standing, she was a reminder that peace was possible. It was something she didn't mind being.
Graveheart found he had more patience than he thought as he spent his time between worlds, mending rifts torn by pettiness and past grievances. Listening to be both sides of such conflicts made him want to grind his teeth or punch a few heads together like he used to in the army when things didn't go his way. Luckily, this mysterious patience seemed to bubble up from deep within, as if telling him that these moments wouldn't even be possible if there wasn't peace. And when he thought of that, of what had been, suddenly these annoyances became funny, and he almost looked forward to them with a kind of affection. Better it be with words than with guns.