It had been so long since she'd actually seen any of the gang, and what felt like longer since they had actually done anything useful. What made her angry was that she knew they were getting together without her. Was she not good enough for them? Did they think they could just abandon her after the war was over?

"No. They're your friends," Kichi reminded herself. They'd been through a lot, become a family on their journey to take down Ozai. So why was it that they were getting together without her? She knew her anger just came from feeling left out; from feeling hurt by their neglect. She'd seen Katara and Suki up in the high tower of the Presidential building; a building where the gang had made their homes, though more often than not they weren't there. She'd seen Zuko and Ozai wandering the ground, arguing about things. She'd even seen Aang fly around the towers on occasion with Appa.

And where was she? Sitting on a bench that rested on a grassy hill, just outside the grounds of the building. People were playing games around her, trivial games that people come up with when outside and have nothing to do but to enjoy the fresh air. But today felt different for some reason. Instead of using the elements that they were known for, the people were ignoring them. They had been for quite a few years, actually. Who needed bending abilities when there was so much technology available now? It kind of irked her. Would the Spirits remove their abilities if they continued to ignore them?

At that moment, a young girl came running up to her. "Kichi! Kichi!" she cried. She looked panicked. Kichi didn't have to wonder how the girl knew her name. Everyone knew who she and the gang were after the war.

"What is it?" she asked.

"My firebending!"

"What about it?"

"It's gone!" The girl proceeded to take a fighting stance, thrust her arms forward to shoot flames into the air, but nothing came out. Though the air did shimmer with heat just outside her extended fist.

Kichi stared. She'd seen something similar to this with Zuko, but why would a carefree young girl be suffering from lack of "drive"? "How long has it been like this?" she asked.

The girl, now practically in tears, slumped away from her previous stance and stared at the ground. "I don't know. I haven't used my firebending in a while, and I went to use it today when playing with Timothy, but nothing happened. And he can't firebend, either. Am I broken?"

"Broken?" Kichi asked. She would have smiled were it not for the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "No. You're not broken… Let's see if I can." She rose from her bench and took the same stance the girl had taken. She was confident she could firebend, since she unlike everyone else had not been neglecting her training. But when she punched out at the air, nothing happened. There was a bit of warm energy that she felt come from her fist, but that was it. She stared at her hand in alarm.

"You can't firebend, either!" the young girl cried. "What's going on?"

Kichi ignored her and proceeded to take an airbending stance, her legs spreading slightly. She waved her arm over her head, trying to manipulate the wind currents that were caused by the motion, but again, nothing happened. "What-?" The girl now completely forgotten, Kichi moved into earthbending poses, lashing at the ground over and over again, but not even a pebble budged. Her attempt at grabbing at the water in the nearby pond was as much of a failure. At this point she was in a panic. Something was horribly wrong!

"Hey! Wait! Where are you going?" she heard the girl call after her as she ran her way toward the Presidential building. Nevermind the girl, this was serious. She had to tell the others.

But Kichi halted at the front doors. She'd forgotten how angry she was at her friends for ignoring her, for not ever saying hi. They probably didn't even think about her.

"I'll just go in chameleon style, then," she said. Her ability to become invisible and to slip through solid objects wasn't technically bending, was it? The great Chameleon spirit Renkai had given her the ability when she'd been trapped in the Spirit World looking for Aang. Spiritual blessings didn't just vanish…did they?

And to Kichi's great relief, she found that when she called on the abilities, they came. She felt her body become lighter, watched as her whole form seemed to disappear. "Time to pay a visit to my old 'friends'," she said, and slipped right through the closed doors.