Juliet's Mirror Coffee "Date" by sweetthesting

SAWYER: "...You ever had one of those days you feel like the little Dutch boy with your finger in the..."

[Juliet indicates the other side of the room, where Jack stands quietly, holding a coffee mug.] (Some Like It Hoth)

The two dominant themes of the sideway universe so far have been water and mirrors. The first has nothing to do with my theory, unless you count that coffee is made with water :), but mirrors of all sorts are what the sideways is all about.

My favorite fanwank dream so far (and yes, I own up to it being a dream) is that sideways Juliet is going to reunite with her ex-husband, Dr. Jack Shephard, over a cup of coffee. They could go Dutch.

1. They kept David's mother a secret even if they could have easily just said "Sarah" or place a photoshopped picture of some random woman anywhere in David's room if they couldn't get the actress or just couldn't be bothered to pay one. There was a picture of Jack, there were plenty of family pictures everywhere, but David's mother is clearly meant to make us wonder.

2. Juliet is the best candidate (heh) to be David's mother. Everybody else is too young to have a 13 year-old son in 2004 (Kate, Gabriella, Sarah -- met Jack in 2000), too non-Caucasian (Achara), too completly random and unsatisfactory for THE theme of the season -- mirroring (Penny, Libby and other left of field candidates...) or in Sarah's case also too unexciting. See #1. Both Juliet and Jack would be very young when they had David, early twenties, still in med school, something that gives them a common background even at that age.

3. The show has mirrored pre-existing "connections" of all sorts so far, even the friendship of Miles and Sawyer. Jack and Juliet did have a connection on the island, even though Juliet was unfortunately sacrificed to the whims of the writer's triangle focused on Kate.

Juliet is the most likely option to be David's mother. I believe that she's also going to have coffee with Jack, not Sawyer.

1. "I wish..." (316)

So far David Shephard has been a great way to grant redemption for Jack's biggest burden in both universes: daddy issues. He made the right choice in a moment that will change both his life and David's life forever. Jack's wish/quest is now possible because of a choice he made to open up to his son the way his father never could (as he tragically confesses to Sawyer in Australia.) Possibly because of two choices he made. And one of them was to detonate Jughead and give himself this new life.

Jack did not do it alone though. This was a two-man job. With a little help from their friends yes, but in the end it was down to Jack and Juliet. They created the new universe. They created David. There was a very interesting choice of words from Damon Lindelof in an interview before the premiere when he said that “Juliet basically birthed season 6 by the actions that she takes ..." I am not providing a link because I'm not sure if any of the vague references in the interview are still spoilers to this day or referred strictly to the finale. You can google the exact quote to verify its accuracy.

What does Juliet wish for? That she never has to experience the misery of being abandoned and cast aside again. The opposite of that is unconditional love. A love that is all of your own. Regardless of what her relationship with Jack would end up as/was, a child for Juliet would be the ultimate wish-fullfilment. Unconditional love. She wished she never met Sawyer and...

2. "It worked!" (LA X)

Sawyer's centric has come and gone and his sideways story is in no way connected to Juliet. I stand corrected... there is a message that pertains to Island Sawyer's loss of Juliet as much as it pertains to Sieways Sawyer loss of his parents. But Ingalls' message was about moving on, which does not have to rob our previous relationships of their meaning. We'll always have memories, yet life is for the living. A mirrored theme in both timelines.

3. "James?..."
"It's me!"

Yes, she said the famous dutch coffee line while laying in Sawyer's arms. Charlotte did have her own flashing conversation with the same man in two timelines, but only half of it was ever shown to be related to Daniel. "Turn it up! I love Geronimo Jackson" proves that when one's consciousness is on the brink between two worlds, it does not necessarily mean that it HAS to be a connection with the person who is in close physical proximity to the soon-to-be-departed.

Moreover, Juliet seems dazed and confused to see Sawyer after she mumbles the coffee invitation. He has to remind her it's him, but both her face and her voice indicate that she was surprised to come back into this world to "James", indicating he was possibly not the person she was inviting for coffee anymore than Daniel ever turned up Jeronimo Jackson for Charlotte.

4. JACK: "...maybe you and I could grab some coffee together or something."

KATE: I know why you don't want to see the baby, Jack. But until you do...until you want to, there's no you and me going for coffee. But um...if at anytime you change your mind, come and see us." (Eggtown)

Jack did change... not his mind, but his relationship with his sideways "baby", just like he changed his mind about Aaron. My theory has nothing to do with Jack and Juliet getting back together in 2 minutes of screentime. It is not true to life and it does not work that way. Still, for two characters who have had such tragic lives (and in Juliet's case a tragic death to boot), even the suggestion of reconnecting, of redemption through the love of a family in their future is a very sastisfying conclusion, if the sideways universe is to have any conclusion at all and will not be reset once again.

5. "We should get coffee sometimes. We could go dutch." (LA X)

Sideways James Ford has never met Juliet so far, at least not in any capacity where they'd connect romantically. Would YOU go on blind dates if you had a gorgeous blonde you thought you had a shot at? That is not a line that two strangers who have just met would use, in my opinion. Two characters with a history, even one we have not seen yet, on the other hand... It also strikes me as the right note of tentative non-committal, afraid to take a chance but it may just work... HOPE. Jack and David's relationship has been renewed and reborn. Jack's mother would certainly notice it and maybe think a second chance was possible.

Complete fanwank on my part, never pretended otherwise, but it felt good to put all this down so it's out there on record if by some miracle I do get to claim bragging rights in the end. Let the chips (and coffee beans) fall where they may!