A/N

Okay, so this is the first fanfic I've written in a long time! I have lots of plans for it, and am looking forward to plenty of updates! This chapter is short and sweet, and crappily written-its just an explanation of my OC's background put very simply, and how she came to be. I know it's a bit out there, but it works! I promise the rest of the chapters will actually be good, well-written, and more emotional. This is just all information. Bear with me!

Happy reading,

Shadow of the Season

PS-Reviews rock! ;)

Prologue

Odette never was truly the daughter of the Harper and Alan Washington; despite having lived with them as if she was completely and utterly theirs, the young girl was only blood related to Mrs. Washington.

Of course, this was no mystery to Mr. Washington. After being married for seven years, and trying to have a child, the doctors found that it was not Mrs. Washington, but Mr. Washington who was infertile, and unable to conceive the child they both so utterly longed for.

For two and a half years, the young couple was in a desperate position. No treatments seemed to work for the duo. Mrs. Washington was fiercely loyal to her husband, and wished for nothing having to do with another man impregnating her, though both of their hearts ached for their unborn child.

Adoption seemed out of the question, too. Harper Teller was from halfway around the globe, escaped from a family in gang and crime life to West City, where she met the love of her life, Alan Washington. They were married within the first few years of knowing one another, though little was known about the young Harper, other than that she had taken her maiden name when she escaped, tried to keep her names out of the system as much as possible in the shadow of her former family.

Harper was a difficult woman not to notice; she was unconditionally beautiful, with her pale blonde hair reaching her middle back while forming around her circular face in straight, thin, well-kept layers, and elegant indigo blue eyes, with pale, soft skin and a thin form that made men look twice all over the world. Her face was perfect to complement with brushes of makeup, from pink cheeks and black mascara to red lips and purple eye shadow. One could tell she wasn't from West City at a glance, though few stopped to ponder it. There were many people from all over the world in their fair town, and all

Alan Washington didn't see himself as the luckiest man in the world just because of her stunning looks, though; he truly loved Harper for the way she was. He loved her sweet quietude, her awkward attitude, her soft voice that carried little in a room, her smile that he melted into every day; Mr. Washington would do anything for that woman, and she required little of him, other than his love, which she returned readily.

So, with as many limitations to their options they had, Alan Washington went to the only person he figured could assist him in this situation: his eldest friend, the owner of Capsule Corp, Dr. Brief.

Dr. Brief understood the situation surprisingly well; he could not imagine life without his daughters, and was, from there, on a quest to assist with Alan's dilemma as much as he could.

Now, Dr. Brief's daughter, Bulma, had introduced his to an odd little fellow of the name Goku but a few days after Mr. Washington came to him for assistance. The boy was odd, to say the least; he bore a tail, and was extraordinarily strong for someone so young. Thus, his daughter came to him that night with a lock of Goku's hair, and asked that her father to try and analyze what made him so special.

Dr. Brief saw a huge opportunity in this. Within a few weeks, after hours upon hours of studying and experimentation, he came through with a huge advancement: he had made a genetic replication of Goku's DNA, in the form of reproductive cells. The genes were formatted in a way that would transfer into a volunteer's body upon injection, and react as a normal sexual encounter would: impregnation. The child would receive some of Goku's genetic model, and some of the mother's. After another month or so, Dr. Brief adjusted the sample, making sure it was safe, as well as getting multiple samples of it in case the first time did not work, he brought his information of Goku and his creation to the Washingtons.

He told them of how he came across the boy, had substituted his immature reproductive body with mature male models, and how the genes were identical to how Goku's would be when he grew older. They carefully listened to the process, and how Goku would technically be their child's father, though indirectly.

Both of them were overjoyed, crying tears of joy in each other's arms before allowing Dr. Brief to inject Harper Washington with his genetic creation.

Nine months later, Harper Washington gave birth to her healthy daughter, Odette Madeline Washington.

Odette, though, as she was still connected Goku, was born with a tail.

Though it still shocked them, the Washingtons did not judge their child. How could they, after waiting for her so long? Under careful consideration from the doctor himself, the couple decided to let her keep her tail, and deal with societal repercussions at a later time in the child's life.

Odette Washington was raised in a middle class family, growing up into a smart and curious little girl, heavily taking after her mother's looks even at a young age. Her blonde hair wasn't as pale as Harper's, taking a dirty blonde with lighter highlights coloration, and her eyes were lighter, with a clearer, steel-blue coloration that shined with flecks of green in them. Her skin was still a rich, peachy tone, though, and she looked as though she would be short and curvy when she grew older, just as her mother did. Her smile was also considered by many to be her best feature, even at a young age. With cutely shaped teeth that weren't quite perfect and pink lips that matched her rosy cheeks, the little girl seemed as though she would be stunning when she got older.

However, her personality was only partially influenced by Mrs. Washington's. Odette was a curious, rambunctious child, always wanting go outside to run around and play, getting right back up from falling down, climbing trees and swimming in rivers. As they lived in the country outside of the West City, Odette filled her early years in learning to ride horses, helping with the garden her mother had in the back of the house, tending to the hens, and running.

Oh, how Odette loved to run! Her little legs would go for hours and hours around the house, through the fields, just feeling how her feet connected with the ground, how the rest of the world zeroed out so that she could just hear her breath and the sound of dirt and gravel under her sneakers. By the end, her hair would be soaked with sweat, and breathing erratic for hours afterwards. However, her huge appetite made up for this.

Her first transformation occurred around the time she was three or four. When she truly saw the full moon for the first time, her tail reacted, and she became the mighty Oozaru, terrifying her parents and destroying half of their ranch setting. They were extraordinarily lucky that none of the animals were killed during this time, though many of their fences were smashed to pieces.

Because of this, Mr. Washington went to Dr. Brief again, bringing a lock of hair from his little girl this time. He explained the situation, and begged Dr. Brief to come up with a solution. After a few weeks of study, trial, and error, the perfect vitamin was created. Dr. Brief gave it to Alan Washington, telling him that the medication would subside the transformation as long as she took it every day. Mr. Washington went home, and told the little girl that she had to take it every day for the rest of her life.

When she grew older, Odette started to grow a very passionate and fierce fire to her. She would debate with her parents in her young ignorance, and, on the playgrounds around her school, she nearly got into fights quite often with others giving her strange looks, or commenting on her tail. She had few close friends because of this, and her parents were very strict about her wanting to increase her skills, or learn how to protect herself. Once, when she asked her parents if she could be put into a martial arts school, they looked at each other in fear, fell to their knees, held her tiny little palms in their hands, and made her stare into their eyes, imploring her to never fight unless it was completely necessary, and to never learn its ways if she could help it. They made her promise; with the powerful relationship between them, she felt it completely truthfully.

Odette, or Ettie, as everyone eventually started calling her, knew that Alan Washington was not her father, though, at her young age, she could not truly understand the implications of what had happened. Her parents based their relationship with their daughter on trust, so had told her the entire story, and why she didn't have a brother or a sister from them. She didn't mind; she enjoyed being an only child, with more Christmas and birthday presents, and animals on the farm to keep her company.

However, when Harper and Alan Washington died in a car crash while driving to pick Ettie up from school when she was seven, her life completely changed.

When she was informed of what happened, Ettie cried for almost a week straight. She didn't sleep, she didn't eat, and she didn't go to school. The police had come to her, explaining that she would never see her parents again, and took her to get her things from her home so that she could have possessions for when she moved in with a new family.

Before she could be put into a foster home, or up for adoption, Dr. Brief stepped in, mournful of the loss of his dear friend Alan Washington. As one of the richest men in the world, he brought Ettie into his home at Capsule Corp, and brought her up as a part of his family.

After about a month had passed, Ettie started to bounce back from her depression at the loss of her parents. Her appetite started to return, her grades went back up in school, and her sleep was no longer filled with nightmares.

Then, later even, she started to smile again. She made friends in school, and would invite them over for play dates and sleepovers; she explored her home, and would watch from over Dr. Brief's shoulder with question after question of his experiments. She met Bulma, and the two grew close.

After about half a year, when Ettie was still seven, Dr. Brief decided it was time to introduce her to her father.

Goku was 15 at the time. Bulma was the one who explained exactly what had happened, as well as the circumstances of Ettie's birth. At first, Goku was extremely shocked. He knew nothing of fatherhood, being barely a teenager, and was sketchy on his understanding of the technological world. However, when he met Odette and saw that she had a tail, he understood. He had been told the concept of offspring in his life before, and though he felt little measure of the idea, he knew that the little girl and him would become very close in the future.

Ettie thought Goku was magnificent. He was strong, agile, funny, and very optimistic around her. Goku spent time with her, would ask her questions, and would go on her runs with her. He encouraged her when it came to her schoolwork, gave advice on friends, and let her travel with him during the weekends. The older they got, the more fatherly he started to act towards her. He would protect her from harm, scold her if need be, and kept her safe under his wing. One mutual aspect between him and Mr. Washington stuck: after hearing that her former family had not allowed her to train, he made an agreement with her, stating that she could train all she wanted after she turned 18. She never let up on the promise.

To attend school, Odette lived at Capsule Corp with the Briefs. She was a good student, achieving A's and B's on her schoolwork all the way through her school career. She made a small circle of friends, who stuck with her to high school.

When Goku married Chi-Chi, Ettie didn't know what to think, other than that she knew life was about to change yet again. Alas, soon there, she was granted a little brother named Gohan, whom she loved dearly. The family was happy, despite Ettie only coming to visit during breaks or on the weekends.

Everything seemed as though it would be a perfect shot through life.

That is, until one day, when Goku, Ettie, and Gohan went to Kami House for a reunion with Goku's old fighting buddies.