It had been 3 hours. 3 hours since the freighter had blown up, 3 hours since all hope of leaving the island had disappeared, 3 hours since that bright light appeared, engulfing the island. 3 hours since Juliet had had any hope of seeing Jack Shephard ever again.
Juliet told herself that she was being silly... The freighter had just sunk to the bottom of the ocean, and the bright light... Well, a lot of weirder things had happened on this island.
It was funny though... Juliet had known Jack for what, 2 months, and she had been completely willing to hand him over the Kate if it meant that he was happy and that her fear of becoming the other woman again was put to rest. But once he was gone, once she knew that she would never wake up again and have the comfort of knowing that whatever happened, whatever she did, he would be there to protect her... That felt a lot worse than losing him to Kate.
The thought had crossed Juliet's mind that maybe, somehow, by some miracle, he had gotten off the island. Yeah, it was impossible. The boat had blown up, and the helicopter had been on it. End of story, no survivors. But say that he had? Whatever happened to "together," to leaving the island as a twosome, on the submarine, or blowing up the others "together" so that they could leave in triumph... Together. Whatever happened to that? If Jack got off the island, would he forget that they had ever met, ever touched, ever kissed? Cheeseburgers, toothpicks, aloe, glass. Oh how Juliet wished she could return to the glass wall of the hydra. Everything was so contained, so controlled, so limited. And it was just the two of them. Her and Jack. Alone... Together.
Their love had been... Well, it had been complicated. That's what. I mean, that is if you could even call it love. A classic Capulet/Montague romance where two people from opposite sides of the world find a common belief. A belief in themselves. Together. Forbidden love, Stockholm Syndrome, mystery, intrigue, jealousy, complications. Unrequited love. Maybe that's all it ever was. Unrequited... A classic "girl falls for guy, but guy has a girlfriend," scenario.
Or maybe, just maybe, Juliet wasn't that nerdy girl with a crush on the big quarterback. Maybe she was that mysterious girl, the one nobody ever notices, but is always there, watching and indifferent. One day, this girl falls for that popular guy, that one that everyone loves and looks up to, but is kind of intimidated by. And of course, this guy has a girlfriend, and doesn't even know who the mysterious girl is. But slowly, surely, they meet, and they fall for each other. Guy has to spend some time working things out, but eventually he breaks up with his girlfriend for number two. Happy ending for corner, Other girl.
All this from a simple spark of the imagination, Juliet thought, smiling a smile for only herself to see. But it all came down to the one, simple basic fact that she had started with. Jack Shephard was dead, and whether or not he was the handsome, way-too-good-for-her quarterback didn't matter. Because she would never see him again to find out. Rest in peace, Jack.