Eighteen hung up the phone and shook her head. "Krillen!" she called, summoning her husband down the stairs. When no answer came, she called for him again, but once again she got no answer. Grunting in annoyance, the blonde woman walked up the staircase to their room.

"You cannot hide in this room forever," she told her husband.

The newly formed woman nodded, but she simply continued to stare out the window wordlessly. She did not even look up at her wife's entrance.

Eighteen leaned against the doorframe and looked at her husband, more than a little concerned. In all the years she had known Krillen, the short human had been extremely extroverted. A love of conversation, a penchant for corny jokes, any excuse at all usually had Krillen all smiles. But ever since the transformation, which was really only twenty three hours earlier, Krillen had completely changed her behavior. In fact, she had barely spoken at all since they had gotten home. Most of her time had been spent looking out their bedroom window and gently rocking in the chair.

Clearing her throat, the blonde told her husband, "Bulma just called." When there was no visible reaction, Eighteen went on. "We've been invited to go shopping for you and the others this afternoon."

The rocking suddenly stopped, and Krillen looked up at her wife. "I'm not going."

"Krillen, I know it'll embarrassing," Eighteen informed, still standing in the doorway, "but all of the others will be there with you, and…"

"I said I'm not going!" the shorter woman snapped.

That certainly caught the blonde off guard. "Why?" she gently demanded.

Krillen looked forlornly at her wife for a moment before turning back to the window. "I'm not going," she repeated in a morose tone.

Eighteen pushed herself off of the doorframe and took a seat on the edge of the bed, sitting near her husband's chair. With a gentle touch, she reached out and placed a hand on her love's shoulder. "Krillen," she softly spoke, "what's really wrong?"

The little woman shook her head and resumed mildly rocking. "It's nothing," she returned.

However, Eighteen had never been one to let anything go when it involved her husband. "Clearly that's not true," she firmly stated. "Tell me what the real issue is here, because it really doesn't seem like simply becoming a female is what is bothering you."

Krillen shook her head. "I don't want to go out with them," she repeated.

"And why is that?" the blonde asked, being far more gentle than she normally acted. While she had reputation that she had well earned as an ice queen, she was not nearly as heartless as the majority of their friends thought she was.

"I don't want to talk about it," was the only response the smaller female gave.

Eighteen sat quietly for a minute and withdrew her hand from her husband. She was unaccustomed to having to milk Krillen for information. Her husband normally supplied anything she needed and much, much more, without any provocation. Finally, she opted to slip her foot underneath the rocking chair and flipped it around, forcing Krillen to look at her.

"Talk to me," she demanded, crossing her arms and glaring.

While definitely frustrated, Krillen knew that look meant that her wife was not going to go anywhere or do anything unless she got an answer. "Look," the diminutive woman replied, a very sad look in her eyes, "I don't want to be seen with the other guys."

Eighteen's naturally narrow eyes narrowed further in confusion. "Because you believe because they will embarrass you?" she guessed.

Shaking her head, Krillen looked away. "No, that's not it."

"Then what is it?" she pressed.

Krillen still did not look up until her wife forced her to make eye contact, and even then the tiny woman squirmed. "It's no big deal," she insisted.

"Liar," the blonde accused. "Now tell me what the hell the big deal is."

Shooting to her feet, Krillen's eyes suddenly filled up with fire. "You want to know what the big deal is?" she demanded. "I'll tell you what the big deal is. The big deal is that I'm…I'm…I can't. I just can't!"

Eighteen scoot herself closer to her husband. "Krillen," she softly spoke, "whatever it is, you can tell me."

With an exhausted sigh, Krillen kept her eyes out the window. "Eighteen," she quietly answered, "I don't want anyone to see me."

"They've already seen you," the blonde pointed out, not getting it at all. "In fact, they saw you like this a day ago."

"No," her husband explained, still looking outside, "I don't want anyone else to see me. Especially with the others."

Realization suddenly dawned on the icy blonde woman. "Wait, you don't want to go outside with them because of attractiveness?"

Krillen scoffed and turned her gaze from the window to the floor. "I knew you thought it was stupid," she muttered. "There was no way you were going to get it."

"And why not?" the taller woman demanded. "What could possibly be so far beyond my grasp about the concept of insecurity?"

"Gee, where do I start?" Krillen sneered. "Let's see here, there's the fact that you're a ridiculously hot blonde woman with a flawless body and a perfect face who will never get old, there's the fact that that you're tall enough to be elegant but not so tall that guys would be threatened by you, there's the fact that you're unrivaled as the strongest woman on the planet, and let's not forget that…"

"Krillen!" Eighteen interrupted.

The smaller woman shut up, but she looked as upset as ever. However, she did finally look back up at her wife.

The blonde got on her feet and shook her head, clearly frustrated with her husband. "I had no idea you were so shallow," she bit out. "If I had known that it was physical appearance that you coveted most in a woman, then…"

"No," Krillen interrupted back, "this has nothing to do with you, okay? I'm saying that when an attractive woman walks by a group of people, they'll think about how hot she is for a minute and then forget about her. But if I, a freakishly short, noseless, flat chested woman walks by, they'll stare at me for a minute before talking about what a freak I am for the rest of their natural lives!"

With a roll of her eyes, Eighteen sat back down. "Why does it matter?" she countered. "You are no longer a single person desperately trying to get a date. You are a married person, one who will likely never see any of these people ever again. If anything, you got lucky with this wish." When her husband snorted, the blonde forced eye contact and smirked. "You might not be the hottest female in the group, but you'll be the only one able to fly under the radar in public. Imagine what it will be like the first time a guy hits on Goku and she doesn't know what the hell to do."

A slow smile formed on Krillen's face as she looked at her wife. "I hadn't thought about it like that," she admitted.

"Come on," Eighteen said, getting to her feet and pulling Krillen out of the chair, "let's go watch the other idiots suffer."

/

Krillen could not get the blood to stop pumping wildly along her cheeks as they entered the mall. They had just barely set foot in the place and she was already mortified. Bulma had swung by not long ago with the rest of the crew in tow, and they had gone straight to the nearest mall. The car ride itself was not too bad. In fact, almost nothing had been said at all and everyone was avoiding eye contact, so Krillen thought it was downright pleasant.

But as soon as they landed, all hell had broken loose. Gohan freaked out and refused to leave the car, blocking the entire passenger exit as she clung on to the frame as though for dear life. Videl, frustrated as all get out, was tugging at her love as hard as she could in a vain attempt to liberate the others from the vehicle. Chi-Chi had to keep a hand on the back of Goku's shirt, needing to in order to keep the damn thing on. Goku, still fascinated with her assets, kept touching herself over her shirt in awe. Vegeta had been determined to get in, accomplish the mission, and get the hell out as fast as humanly possible, but Bulma was already talking about spending the entire day at the mall, getting the 'princess' into a barely containable rage.

As such, Krillen was too embarrassed by the actions of those around her to be embarrassed by her awkward appearance. Just getting to the front door had been almost enough to mortify her to death. She tugged on her wife's sleeve. "Can we ditch these guys?" she quietly asked.

Eighteen did not need to be told twice. Grabbing her husband, the blonde made a break for the far end of the mall at the fastest walk planet Earth had ever seen.

"Spoil sports!" Bulma shouted after the retreating couple. With a huff, she blew her bangs away from her eyes and fisted her hands at her sides. "Honestly, do they not know a generous offer when they see one? I mean, I offer to buy them everything they could possibly need in the coming months, and they've completely abandoned us! Is that not the rudest…thing…you ever…" The heiress trailed off as she realized that the rest of the group had followed suit and abandoned her, and her purse was gone, too.

Bulma stomped her feet as she marched into the mall, screaming, "I HATE YOU ALL!" on her way.

/

Around a few corners, Videl shook her head and tried to ignore the pitiful noise behind her. "Come on," she guided her love, "the stuff you're going to want is over here."

Gohan continued to whimper as she was pulled into a fairly generic clothing store. "I want to go home," she stage whispered.

"Sucks to be you," the little spitfire shot back, dragging Gohan behind her very forcibly. "Come on, your choices are to go in and get what you need, or to go to school naked on Monday. Now, as much as I'm sure Sharpener and the other guys would love to see a hot, naked girl walk into fourth period science, it is probably in your better interested to suck it up and get in here!"

With another pathetic whimper, Gohan sullenly nodded and followed her girlfriend. As much as she hated the idea of shopping for girlie clothing for herself, she knew perfectly well that her girlfriend would find some way to make life worse. "Okay," she mumbled.

Finally, the shorter girl thought with a roll of her eyes. Videl was never the sort who enjoyed shopping in the past, but that did not mean that she was completely oblivious to what to look for. She moved swiftly for the casual apparel and nabbed a pair of high waisted jeans. "Here," she firmly said, thrusting them into Gohan's arms, "go try these on. They should be near your size, but you need to tell me if you need something bigger or smaller."

"But…"

"You go try these on," Videl commanded sternly, "and I will find appropriate shirts and underwear. Now go!"

Gohan gulped as she headed for the changing room. She had heard that tone before, but it usually came from her mother. No matter who it came from, though, she knew that it meant to hustle or face hell. "Be nice to me!" she called out, entering a dressing room. "I've had a very bad last few days!"

Videl, pulling shirts off of a shelf, rolled her eyes. She knew Gohan was having a hard time, but if she had to listen to that wailing every thirty seconds, heads were going to roll.

/

"Go in the changing room," Chi-Chi bit out, shoving her husband through the store.

Goku frowned down at her wife. "It's okay, honey," she genuinely responded, "I don't mind."

With a clearly annoyed grunt, Chi-Chi dropped her shoulder before actually hoisting her lover off of the ground and hauling her to the dressing room. "It's not there for your comfort," she grunted, stalking into a stall, "it's for mine! Bulma's only paying for your clothes. She said nothing about posting bail for indecent exposure!"

The taller woman actually squeaked as she was chucked into the changing room. "Wow, you're really strong!" she gasped, clearly impressed.

Chi-Chi shook her head, hanging up the chosen clothing on the stall's hooks. "Of course I am," she muttered, mostly to herself. "I whooped your butt twelve hours ago."

"What?" Goku asked.

The smaller woman turned around and smiled. "Nothing, sweetie!" she chirped. "Now, you put on one of these outfits, and then let me see it so I can decide if it fits you properly." As she watched her husband open her mouth, Chi-Chi quickly explained, "You don't know how women's clothes are supposed to fit, and you will need help if you want ones that will let you do what you want to do without wearing out."

"Oh," Goku accepted with a nod, "I get it."

She never heard her wife mutter, "It's a miracle," as she walked out of the room.

/

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Krillen fought, stomping her foot. "I am not doing it!"

Eighteen sent her trademark icy glare toward her husband and crossed her arms. "You have to, and you know it."

"I do not know it," the diminutive woman hissed. "You girls have stores for everything that even one of you could want. There has to be a store for the petite!"

The blonde leaned against the entryway of the store they were next to. "They do," she coolly replied. "But you are not petite. You aren't tall enough to be petite."

Krillen returned her wife's glare with matching intensity. "I am not going to shop in a children's store, and that is final!"

"This can't be a new idea for you," Eighteen countered, not giving up an inch. "You were too small to be 'petite' before this entire catastrophe started, and I can't imagine that there is a section in a men's department with clothing that would actually fit you."

A wild blush spread across Krillen's face. In all the years that the two of them had been together, Eighteen had never actually known Krillen to go out shopping for new clothing. In fact, as she thought about it, there was not one outfit in his wardrobe that he had not either already owned or had made himself. She suddenly found herself wondering where, exactly, her husband acquired clothing.

"Look," she said, choosing to grill the fed up woman at another time, "this is the only option we have for the time being. Let's just get in, get you a few essentials, and get out before half the group ends up getting arrested for god only knows what."

Krillen pouted, but conceded the point. "Fine," she grumbled, shoving her hands in her pockets. "Let's just get this done and over with…"

/

Bulma tore around another corner, trying to find any of the women she had come with. The three other couples, plus her husband, had seemingly scattered over the entirety of the mall. And it appeared that either they were all ignoring her or not one of them had a working cell phone with them. As such, she was rounding out her twentieth minute of searching for the others.

"Damn it!" she said to herself. "Where the hell are they?"

The heiress noticed a sign posted in the mall listing the shops, and she quickly maneuvered her way over to it. After all, it was a mall she was unfamiliar with. She quickly scanned for athletic shops, assuming that she could probably find at least one of them that way. She was so wrapped up in the map that she did not notice the person behind her until she felt the sharp kick in her ankle.

"OW!" she shrieked, hopping up and down on her non-injured foot. "God, watch where you are going, you little…" She stopped as suddenly as she started, though, as she realized that she had been kicked by her husband. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Getting my work done, you moron," the raven haired woman sneered. "We came with a purpose, it has been completed, now let's get the hell out of here before I reduce this building to nothing more than rubble and ash."

Bulma rolled her eyes. "Right. You go ahead and summon a ki blast, and we'll all go running."

Vegeta's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I may not be able to form an enormous energy wave right now," she darkly threatened, "but I know a thousand ways to cause enormous amounts of destruction with minimal effort. I could bring this place to the ground in ten minutes."

The heiress shook her head. She did not doubt for a moment that her lover was capable of causing the damage she threatened to bring, but she knew that the former prince was not dumb enough to follow through with it. Instead, she opted to change the subject. "You actually went clothes shopping, for women's clothes, on your own?"

"Well I sure as hell was not about to let you tag along," Vegeta retaliated.

Bulma opened her mouth to fight back, but she shut it promptly. After all, it had only been that morning that she had sworn to apologize for her behavior. So far, she was doing a fairly poor job of being nice. She swore privately that she was going to follow through with her idea to make good with her husband. "Hey," she said, reaching for one of the bags, "let me take a look at what you got."

"Not a chance in hell, woman," the former Saiyan shot back, pulling away. "We're leaving. Now."

"Vegeta," the heiress softly reasoned, "we came with six other people. We can't just abandon them here."

"Sure we can," Vegeta responded, walking swiftly for the door. "You put the key in the ignition, turn on the car, and laugh as you hear the losers yelling behind you. Now move your fat ass and get in the car."

Bulma fumed, stomping behind her husband. "You know," she called out, chasing down the black haired woman, "I'd think you were PMS-ing if it weren't for the fact that you're a bitch every single day!" The heiress watched as her husband firmly placed her bags in the car, slammed the back shut, and climbed into the driver's seat. "Oh, very funny!" she shouted out. "What are you going to do, abandon the rest of us here?"

The former prince did not even look in her direction as she put the keys in the engine and brought the machine to life.

"Vegeta?" Bulma called out, trying to catch her husband's eyes. "This is a joke, right?"

As the vehicle took off, Bulma cursed her husband's name, unable to hear the maniacal laughter of the woman who drove away.