Juliet woke up and tried to understand what she had seen. Her whole life, she took her dreams seriously. They were displays of her thoughts and feelings. So now she sat in her room and tried to figure out the reason for this strange dream. Why did her usual nightmare change? Could it be because of all the stress, she had the day before? Could her body just be finding way for relax? But if it was so, then why didn't she see Goodwin? They had a lot of happy moments together. Why did she see this man? And to top it all off, why did he replace Goodwin, at the end?

Juliet recalled the dream, trying to find details that would explain everything to her. Goodwin sat there and looked at her. Wait a minute. Was that really Goodwin? She knew this dream well enough to just imagine him being there. His face was in the tree's shadow, and all she could see were his bright eyes.

Juliet stopped in her tracks. Only now she realized what else was different in her dream. All the time she was walking on the beach, she felt his gaze, so attentive and piercing, but tender and loving at the same time. She wished to be looked at like that forever and it was the look of the light-colored eyes of James Ford.

She saw him, not for very long, but she was sure that she couldn't confuse his looks with anyone else. He was in her dream. She saw him as her friend, as her protector, and – she had to tell herself the truth – as her lover.

She couldn't understand this part. She never thought about herself as an emotional woman able to fall in love at first sight. She always needed to know the men she dated well enough, not that there were many men in her life.

What could be so different about James Ford?

Maybe she had seen him before. Of course, it would explain everything. She just associated him with her previous life in Miami. She had projected her home-sickness onto him. Juliet stood up and walked to the door. All she needed was to find out from his file when he was in Miami, then she would remember where she had seen him.

She looked through his file. He was in Miami indeed, as he had been in most other big cities. It was a miracle that Mikhail could track him down, considering his wanderings. But it also meant that they had no chance to meet, because he was in Miami when she was in Europe with Edmund.

It was their honeymoon. They walked in the parks, went boating, examined ruins. Juliet smiled at those memories. After all, there were not only black pages during their marriage.

Juliet shook her head, pushing away all the memories. She had to stop living in the past. If she hadn't seen him in Miami then it might have been some other place. She read his file again, trying to find any clue to her strange feelings toward him. Nothing. It seemed they were from absolutely different worlds.

Morning came. It was time to check Shephard and to give him food and water. She did so. Thankfully, he overcame his pride and agreed to obey her, so she could enter and give him the food. They even spoke a little. But even during their conversation she couldn't stop thinking about the blond man.

She tried to understand what kind of man he was. His file was complete, but it was just facts, nothing more. And she knew well enough that life was more than facts. She doubt whether anybody who knew Juliet Carlson before could guess what she did now.

She had to see him again. She had to look into his eyes. "It was only to sort out the situation", - she assured herself.

She thought about ways to visit the construction site without raising any suspicions when Ben entered the room and told her that he'd prefer to talk with Jack privately. It was all she needed to go.

They were working under Picket's control. Another lucky coincidence. Tom would ask questions about her presence here, but Danny wouldn't. On the contrary, he began to tell her what had happened since morning. Juliet listened to him with half an ear, glancing at the working man. He didn't look like a spoilt one at all. Quite the opposite, manual labor suited him well. She found it hard to turn her eyes from him.

When she again looked at him, he caught her eyes. Again he looked at her and she didn't understand why. What couldn't she remember about him?

Then she noticed how heavy his breathing was. As always she hadn't thought of the simplest explanation. He was just interested in the bottle in her hands. Juliet sighed in relief and threw the bottle to him. There was no reason to worry. He was just a man who wanted a drink, with no other thoughts about her.

He poured out all water, as if daring her. "He was just too proud to accept her help, as Jack was.", - she told herself, but she wasn't sure about this. What if she was wrong? What if there was something else between them?

The whole situation annoyed her. She was angry at him for defying the logical explanation of his glance. She turned away, firm in her decision to ignore any thoughts about him, but he wasn't going to let her do this. He was looking for fight and Juliet couldn't push away her feeling that he did it to prove something to her. Danny's guys weren't able to fix the problem, so she did it herself. As always. She was able to calm him just as she should be able to calm her own mind.

The next few days were a blur. First Coleen was shot and Juliet did her best to try to save her, but she failed. Another person she had lost. Then Danny had to be calmed down, in order to prevent him from destroying himself. He was never her friend, but she felt guilty about not saving his wife, so she tried to help him. At to top it all off, Ben pressured her about his surgery.

Finally Jack agreed to fix Ben, but it appeared he had his own plans. He tried blackmailing them to protect his friends and it was convenient for Juliet, because it gave her a reason to let Ben die. For a second, she thought about the blond prisoner. Her order to stop them by any means might be the cause of his death, but she pushed such thoughts away. It was her chance to see sister again and there was a chance that he wouldn't be hurt.

Those thoughts didn't become reality, because even on the surgical table Ben was able to control everything. He woke up and suggested a deal – her freedom in exchange for his surgery. She had to help Shephard's friends escape.

She thought it wasn't a high price for her freedom, but she was wrong again.

Danny had already overtaken them and was ready to shoot Ford. It was time to choose whether she would kill or she would look away and let him be killed.

She made her choice. It was the major lesson the Island had taught her – to be able to make a decision. She had shot a man without any doubt, and then watched as the two prisoners sailed away on the boat. She returned to Jack, to help finish the surgery. The whole time she was calm and composed.

Only in her room she dare to think about what she had done. She took somebody's life. She, who used to help to give a birth, was now a killer.

Why did she kill him? Was her wish to get home true reason? She could have let Danny shoot them and Ben would die on the operating table. Nobody could blame her. Then why did she do what she did?

Juliet didn't realize the moment she fell asleep.

She stood at the beach and watched Ford and Austin leaving. Then she turned and shrank back with a cry. Danny lay in front of her with a stake in his chest. She did it! She killed him!

Juliet ran across the sand. She ran and ran unable to stop until she ran into somebody. Strong hands hugged her and pressed her to their chest. They stood still until she stopped shaking. Then she stepped away to look at the person in front of her. The first thing she had seen were the eyes, which were so warm and tender.

-Thank you for saving me! Thank you for getting my back!-

She was sitting on the sand cuddling up to him. The beach around them was empty. No sign of Danny. No sign of him leaving with another woman.

There was only him and her!

It was the first night she didn't wake up from a nightmare. It was the first time she didn't remember her dream. And it was the first time she felt that everything was right.