A few days passed since they arrived in the alternate universe. Many questions were still unanswered, but neither of them were interested in getting the answers. They just wanted to get out of there and back to their familiar life where things made sense.

The repairs were taking longer because of Goku constantly interrupting, Vegeta's bad attitude, and the lack of certain parts. Eventually Bulma told Vegeta to 'fly off somewhere' to get out of her hair, and he did just that. She hadn't seen him in two days.

"Bulma!" She heard Goku calling from upstairs. "Could you come up here for a sec?"

She sighed, "Just a minute!" The thought of being married to Goku in this universe still bothered her deeply. Sure, at one point in her life when she was young she thought she was attracted to him, but things changed. Their relationship was more like one between a brother and sister, and nothing more. When he met Chi-Chi it was her and only her. Chi-Chi made sure of that. Besides, Bulma had Yamaha. Or at least she did. Now she was alone.

Finally she went upstairs to see what he wanted this time. Goku was typically gone during the day working in an office, and he always came home at the same time. Tonight he was back earlier than usual, and she hoped nothing bad had happened.

When she went upstairs she quickly noticed that the house had been decorated with balloons and streamers and lights, and Goku was in normal clothes. Anything other than the orange jumpsuit he usually wore just looked weird to her. "What's all this?" She asked him.

"C'mon, it's your birthday!"

"Oh..."

"Don't worry, I know you've been busy down in the lab so I took the liberty of doing all the party planning!" This was definitely not Goku.

"Oh, uh, thank you?"

"Why don't you go upstairs and change? The others will be arriving any minute now!" The others? When he noticed she wasn't moving, he gave her gentle pushes towards the stairs while nervously laughing. "Don't tell me you forgot where our bedroom is, honey!"

Our...bedroom?

"Gee, whatever it is you're working on down there must be pretty important! Maybe I'll get to see it one day."

"Yeah, maybe."

Everything in the house looked more or less the same besides the family portraits, so it was easy to find her way. Eventually she walked into the only room that looked like it was being used, as the bedsheets were somewhat messy, and the light was on. This must be our bedroom. She tiptoed around and examined everything. Articles of clothing were strewn about, and one of the dresser drawers contained women's underwear.

"Eek!" She gasped when she found a pair that she knew were hers. "What is happening?!"

She heard voices coming from outside the window, and when she looked out of it she saw all of their friends. Krillin, Chi-Chi, Master Roshi, Tien, Yamcha...everyone. They all looked the same, but she knew there was going to be something different about them in some way. Still the relief she felt for seeing her friends was nice.

"Where's dad, mom?" A little kid asked Chi-Chi.

She rolled her eyes and replied, "You know your father, he loves to disappear for months on end."

"Didn't anyone tell Vegeta about the party? I'm sure he would've showed up." Krillin asked.

"He'll be here." Chi-Chi assured them.

Goku let them in shortly after the conversation ended, and now they were in the house. Bulma truly didn't know if she could face them. There was too much weirdness for her to act normal. Of course to them, this was their normal...but not to her.

After about an hour upstairs, Goku finally came up to retrieve her. "Aren't you going to come downstairs?" He asked. "Everyone's here, and they're waiting for you."

Bulma desperately wished that she could tell Goku everything because she needed someone to confide in. She scared Vegeta off, and he was the only person she could talk to about this. Instead she decided to suck it up and go downstairs to deal with it. It was the only thing she could do without making too much of a scene.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY BULMA!" They exclaimed once she came down the stairs. She wanted to be excited because it was her birthday and all, but something just didn't feel right.

"Let's have some cake!" Krillin suggested. Goku brought it out and took it to Bulma.

"Go ahead, make a wish!"

Bulma looked around the room uneasily, and then she blew out the candles.

There was only one thing she wanted for her birthday this year.