Love comes and goes, just like the seasons. Winter to spring, spring to summer, summer to fall, fall to winter; the cycle continues. As much as we want to control the seasons, as much as we try to will it to another season we can't. The same goes for love. Love cannot be helped, it cannot be reasoned with, it cannot be controlled. A lot of time we don't have any say over who we fall in love with. As much as we try to fight it, we cannot control who we fall in love with.

The same goes for our young heroine in the tale you are about to embark on. She had no choice in who she fell in love with. Love makes us do things that we wouldn't normally do. Love makes us go through fire and back, it makes us crazy.

Let me give you some background on our heroine. Her name is Kryhztal Tarnowski--or Kry as all of her friends would refer to her as--she is of Hispanic and white heritage. She is a small gal at an even five foot, her frame the perfect for a good cuddle. She was always on the quiet side, not the first to go up and talk to a stranger in a crowded room. Like a lot of other twenty-two year olds she knew, she longed to have a good career; a husband to cherish her; and a few kids along the way.

Kry is a very artistic person; she does ballet, she loves painting, opera, theatre, anything that's of the fine arts she would be the first to be there. That was where she first met our hero; at her first opening night as a principal dancer three years ago. Let me take you to that first meeting...

Kryhztal looked out at the audience from behind the stage and wondered if they were going to enjoy her performance. She should be concentrating on what she was about to do, as it was a hard piece she was performing. The ballet was an original written and choreographed by Damien Jay the owner of the Company. Tonight was the first time it would be danced and the place was sold out.

It was then that she saw him, he was sitting in the front row looking intrigued by what was happening on stage. The chorus was on doing their number, and after that it was Kry's turn to go out and make her debut. She gasped when she realized his eyes were upon her own, holding her gaze for who knows how long. She quickly moved out of sight when she realized he was watching her.

While she was dancing, she forgot about everything around her and just spoke through her movements on stage. She was very passionate about what she was doing and everyone watching could see that written on her face. She forgot about the man who held her gaze, all the troubles from the day faded away, it was just her and the sound of the music and her feet upon the stage as she landed her jumps.

Backstage after the show was nuts, Kryhztal pushed her way to the dressing room and quickly changed into the velvet maroon dress she'd be wearing to the party later that evening. She washed off the layers of stage make up and lightly applied her own makeup, carefully choosing mascara, eyeliner, a soft blush and a hint of color for her lips. She was never a big fan of makeup so when she wore it outside of dance, she kept it really light.

"Kryhztal, there is someone here who would like to meet you." Damien said stepping up to the vanity.

"Who is it?" Kryhztal asked curiously. Her family wasn't able to come this evening so she wasn't expecting any visitors.

Before Damien could reply, the man who held her gaze, who shocked her to the core came into sight in the mirror in front of her. She froze in place staring at him in the mirror before slowly turning around to see him standing a mere foot behind her chair.

"Hi." he said in a voice that brought chills to her arms.

"Hi." she whispered.

"You were really great." he said with a smile that sent butterflies to her tummy.

"Thank you." she answered nodding.

"I'm JC." he said holding out his hand.

"Kryhztal." she answered barely remembering to hold out her own hand.

JC took her hand and lightly kissed the back of it never losing hold of her gaze. His beautiful blue eyes did something to her insides. They say that a person's eyes could be a mirror into their soul, this man had those eyes.

It was a night to remember for both our couple. It was a night full of passion and romance, not the sexual kind, but the kind that came from the soul. They got to know each other that night more than a lot of people know each other by the time they're married. They ended up going to the party together and went out to eat afterwards and talked the whole night.

They developed a friendship that night that would burn wild in their hearts over the next few months. Our heroine Kryhztal began to fall for JC, fearing that he would never return her feelings. She tried to fight it with all she was worth, but control of her feelings fell out of her grasp...

"I want to take you out tonight." JC told Kryhztal over the phone.

"You do?" Kry said unsure of what else to say.

"Yes, of course."

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise. But I want you to wear that velvet maroon dress I love so much." JC answered.

"I can do that." Kryhztal smiled, his words finding a place in her heart.

"I'll pick you up at eight o'clock sharp."

"Okay. See you then." Kryhztal smiled, excited to be going out with JC.

"See you."

Kryhztal spent hours getting ready for her evening with JC. She dare not call it a date, but she prepared for it the same as a date. She curled her hair and pulled it up with a few ringlets falling down to frame her face and neck, she pulled on the velvet maroon dress and added a touch of lavender behind her ears and on her neck and inside her wrists.

JC arrived at her house precisely at eight o'clock as promised. The moment he saw her, she took away his breath. She was a vision to behold coming down the stairs to meet him. She smiled softly and sent spears of love to his heart. He held out his arm for her at the bottom of the steps and opened the door leading outside the apartment and allowed her to exit first.

"Such a gentleman." Kry smiled letting him lead her to his car.

"My mom brought me up right." JC smiled at her then opened the car door for her.

Kryhztal got in the car and inhaled the masculine scent that could only be described as JC. It was a scent she could never get enough of.

They went to a beautiful outdoor restaurant that overlooked a small canal and the skyline. After that they went down to walk on the beach, a perfect ending to a perfect date.

"I love spending time with you Kryhztal." JC said stopping along the beach.

"Me too." she said losing herself in his eyes.

"I want to kiss you." JC whispered looking at her perfect pink lips.

"You do?" she whispered breathlessly.

"More than anything." JC nodded slightly bringing one hand up to gently frame her face.

Kryhztal searched his eyes and found truth and longing inside them. She licked her lips and swallowed hard. She didn't know what to say she just looked up at him and met his gaze.

JC watched her innocently lick her lips and nearly lost it. He'd been waiting to kiss her for as long as he could remember and this was the opportune moment if there ever was one. There was no way he was going to let it pass by. He lowered his lips to hers and watched her lids close when his mouth met hers.

Kryhztal fell more in love with him when he kissed her. It was everything she'd imagined and then some. She leaned into him and tepidly rest her hands on his chest. She felt JC deepen the kiss and she responded in time with him.

JC gently pulled away and kissed the tip of her nose then her forehead.

"Wow..." Kry whispered burying her face into his chest.

"That's what I was thinking too." JC chuckled softly and wrapped his arms around her small form.

They stood there for a few minutes wrapped up in each other. JC looked up at the sky just as a raindrop fell. The heavens opened and poured a peaceful rain upon the earth and on the couple that seemed to be in a world of their own.

Kryhztal laughed and pulled away from JC and began to spin around in circles. She lost all abandon and began to dance in the rain. She looked like a little girl dancing there and JC smiled tenderly at her.

"Come on JC, dance with me." Kryhztal said grabbing his arm pulling him along with her.

JC laughed and couldn't help but spin in a circle with her. He gathered her into his arms and did a waltz with her as the rain poured on their passion.

"I love you." he whispered looking in her eyes.

"And I you." she whispered back tears falling from her eyes disguised as raindrops. She leaned into him again wanting nothing more than to stay like this forever.

And so you see, the young couple fell hopelessly in love with each other. For reasons they knew not, they were drawn to each other. They dated for two years before the young man proposed to our young heroine. They were married shortly after and only months after they were wed, they were about to embark on another season...

"Are you sure?" Kryhztal said her heart leaping with joy.

"Yes ma'am, you are going to be a mother." the nurse said reading the chart.

"Oh, thank you so much." she said her heart in her eyes.

"You're welcome. I'm glad to see you so excited. Some people come in here and are not so happy to find out. Have you and your husband been planning this?"

"Not necessarily planning, but we did want children."

"Well see the receptionist about setting up an appointment and we'll go from there."

Kryhztal was on air. A baby. She was going to be a mother, she couldn't wait to tell JC when he got home. She knew he was going to be just as excited. They wanted to be parents for the longest time, but wanted to wait til they were married to have any.

She cooked a romantic dinner and set the table for two in a romantic setting. She dressed in his favorite maroon velvet dress and anxiously waited for him to get home. She didn't have to wait much longer, he just pulled up in front of the house.

JC walked inside his house and found the lights on a dim setting and heard jazz music playing softly in the background. He took his shoes off at the door and looked down and saw a small row of rose petals leading somewhere. He smiled then began to follow them, the path ultimately ending in the dining room.

His heart warmed at the sight of his beautiful wife standing beside the window gazing out at the small pond they had out back. She was wearing his favorite dress and she looked so serene standing there, oh how he loved her so.

"You look beautiful my love." he said coming to stand behind her.

"Thank you JC." she said smiling up at him.

"I'm only saying what my eyes tell me." he smiled.

"Please, sit down."

"What are we celebrating?" JC asked sitting down.

"In a moment." Kryhztal said putting two plates of steaming food on the table in front of her then opened the wine bottle and poured two small glasses and also another one full of water.

Kryhztal sat down and lifted her wine glass, "Here's to a new season."

"To a new season." JC said clicking the glass to hers then took a sip. "What is this new season?"

Kryhztal wasn't sure how to tell him, so she just smiled at him and tried to muster the courage to tell him. Her face glowed in with a peaceful serenity that could only be attributed to one thing and one thing alone.

"Are you...?" JC asked catching on. A huge smile spread across his face.

"Yes. We're going to have a baby." Kryhztal nodded tears building up in her eyes.

"Come here." JC said standing up.

Kryhztal went willingly inside his arms and inhaled his scent and he her lavender scent. "Te amare siempre JC."

"I love you too my little mama."

And so it came to pass and nine months later they had a beautiful baby girl. They named her Karen Elizabeth after both of their mothers. They had a happy healthy baby, and for the first two years nothing could go wrong. She was a very quick learner, she learned to walk when she was 10 months old and she could say clear words by the time she was two.

Our hero insisted that his daughter have the same maroon velvet dress that our heroine had so they both could wear it on occasions that required them to dress up. Something was brewing in our perfect family that they would have no control over, something that would devastate them to the very core...

"What is it doctor? Please tell me." JC said when the doctor came back in the room, a grim look on his face.

JC grabbed Kry's hand and braced himself for the worst.

"I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs. Chasez, it is as we feared. Your daughter has a malignant tumor in her brain."

Nothing could have prepared them for that news. They both plunked down on the chairs behind them and didn't know what to say. Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that something like this could happen to them, to their perfect child.

"What does this mean?" JC asked first to find his voice.

"Well, the MRI we did showed the tumor as well as cancer cells all over the brain like a coating. That's not all, she also has tumor cells floating in the fluid around the brain and spinal cord. This is an aggressive cancer known as medullar blastoma. This type of cancer is inoperable, but there is a new type of treatment that gives a 50% success rate. I know it seems slim, but before this treatment there was only a 10% success rate."

The doctor stopped and gave them a few moments to digest what he'd just said before continuing. He knew how hard it would be for the young parents to deal.

"This treatment involves three rounds of conventional chemotherapy followed by a 10-week run of high dose chemotherapy. We'd like to get this started as soon as possible."

Kryhztal heard what he was saying through a fog. Her daughter, her precioso bebe. This was not happening, it couldn't be.

"What do we need to do?" JC asked taking control.

"I'd like to get her checked in today and started if that's all right with you folks." he answered.

"Yes, please whatever we need to do. We just want our baby back to health." JC nodded answering for them both.

"Okay, we'll take her up to the pediatric ward to get her a room, for this type of treatment, it would be best if she got a private room. She'll need to be monitored all hours so people will be coming in and out. We'll put a central Broviac line into her chest to administer the chemo as well as any other needed drugs. Normally we'd do the conventional chemo as an out patient treatment, but in Karen's case, she's so far in that we need to keep an eye on her."

JC could merely nod his head and put his arms around Kryhztal as she turned into him and started sobbing.

"We're going to take her up to the 5th floor, to check her into a room. I'll leave you guys a moment for yourselves. I'm really sorry."

The doctor left the room and their defense crumpled. They clung to each other and cried tears of sorrow. There was still hope for their daughter, but right now all they could see was the crisis she was in. How could this happen?

And so it began. The great battle for young Karen's life. The first three rounds of chemo lasted for a month and all the cancer was gone. Before you get excited, you have to realize with this kind of treatment it was expected. It was a continuous growing cancer, the high-dose treatment was necessary to kill any remaining cells that would try growing back.

Our young mistress Karen lost all of her beautiful black locks, but she was in very good spirits. She kept all of the hospital nurses and doctors on their toes. She always had a smile on her face, even when she was so sick she could barely hold her head up.

Once the high-dose chemo started, things seemed to go down hill. Karen had small seizures every day and once her heart stopped for a few moments before the doctors were able to get things going again. After the whole treatment was finished there was no sign of cancer remaining in the young girls body. After 6 months in the hospital, the tired little girl was finally able to go home and sleep in her own bed. Although things would not be the same, she looked forward to seeing all her toys and her room...

"Mama, home." Karen said in her quiet voice as they walked through their doors together as a family for the first time in 6 months.

"Yes baby girl, we are home at last." Kryhztal said inhaling the beautiful scent of lavender and jasmine, two flavors that were her favorite.

It had been far too long since this house held the entire family. And that family now made their way to Karen's room to put her to bed. Another small twinsize bed in there for Kryhztal and JC to take turns sleeping with her making sure everything was all right.

"I love you baby. Go to sleep okay?" JC said tucking in his little girl.

"I love you daddy. Tired." Karen yawned then closed her eyes.

JC moved to sit in the rocking chair that was sitting next to her bed and pulled Kryhztal down onto his lap. He hummed softly and set the rocking chair into motion as they sat watching their precious baby girl sleep in her bed for the first time.

That night was the first of many. As the weeks went by Karen began developing into the healthy girl she was before all of the cancer inflicted her body. She was limited as to what she could do because she was still heavily on medicine and she still had the chest tube in for her medicine, but she was on her way to becoming a normal two year old.

The Make a Wish foundation contacted the Chasez's and put into motion something that Karen had always dreamed of doing...going to see Mickey Mouse at Disney World. JC and Kryhztal hadn't wanted to take her there til she was old enough to enjoy it, but since it was her choice, she chose to go to Disney.

The plane ride from New York to Orlando was more than they could ask for. Karen slept the whole way and they didn't have any complications. They were met at the airport by a Give Kids the World agent who drove them to the hotel they'd be staying at.

They hit the parks at full speed. Everything that Karen wanted to do was on the list and because they were with 'Give Kids the World' they didn't have to wait in any lines, they always got to the front making things easier.

It was an exhausting but fun week for everyone who went. By the time they were on the plane home, everyone was more than ready to go home and sleep for the next few days. It was a week after going home that things started happening.

Karen woke up one morning and cried out for Kryhztal before vomiting all over her bed. She cried when she did so and while Kryhztal got everything cleaned up.

"So sorry mama." she whimpered.

"It's okay baby." Kryhztal said rocking her in the chair.

"Tummy hurts." Karen whined grabbing her stomach.

Kryhztal felt tears burning at the back of her throat. She prayed to God above that this was only the flu and not the cancer coming back. Unfortunately for all of them, she was wrong. It was not the flu, but the same symptoms she had before.

She would start walking and fall over because her balance was so off. She threw up every morning and after the third day Kryhztal and JC had to take her back to the doctor.

They did another cat scan and found the cancer back. The doctor informed them that she had less than a month to live and that there was nothing further they could do for her. It was something that no parent ever wanted to hear.

JC and Kryhztal took Karen home and lived life as normally as they could as their daughter continued to deteriorate before their very eyes. So the doctors were right. A month after taking her home, Karen Elizabeth Chasez left her body behind and went to live with Jesus in heaven. She would feel no more pain and for that both mother and father were very grateful.

Bringing our couple full circle, young Karen was buried in her fathers favorite maroon velvet dress and it would only be fitting that the day of her funeral be raining and dreary. It was befitting that her mother wore the maroon velvet dress with a black veil covering her face to all but her husband. And so it was on this day they buried their perfect daughter. The seasons beginning to change again.

They slowly picked up their lives again, never forgetting the little girl that for a short time warmed their lives. It would be another full season before they thought about having kids again. And when they did young Gerald came into their lives. They told him great stories of his older sister that was in heaven and they would one day all be reunited after completing all...seasons of love.