"...I mean, when really put in that situation, would you really give up your life?
Do you really love something or someone that much?"

- The Locker -
"Dead men tell no tells."
"Stab the heart...she'll go free....."

Insanity? Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was all in his head. But then again, wasn't that what insanity was? Maybe he was becoming insane. Insane with the thought of insanity.

No, he was the Captain of the Flying Dutchman. This was his Locker. He couldn't be affected by the Locker. He couldn't go insane. He closed his hazel eyes and sat on the scorching, white hot sand of the Locker. He wasn't really staring at anything except the dozens of rocks that were in front of him. He couldn't go insane....he wasn't going insane...the thought of insanity was making him insane. Was that possible? Or was it what Calypso had said to him all those years ago? Love can dirve you to the point of insanity. And maybe that's what was happening to Will...because stabbing his own heart wasn't going to get him anywhere.

Anywhere but dead.

"Will, pull yourself together." He whispered to himself, running his hands through his chesnut ringlets. This was ridiculous. He was always the level headed one. The one that always someone managed to keep his cool even during the most intense battles, and now he was losing it? And to make it worse, in a way, William Turner was losing it to himself. And because of Lila...no, he wasn't losing it. He wasn't going insane. He was going to stab the heart...

Did he just say he was going to stab the heart?

Of course not....but he had said it. If that meant Lila's safety, then he was going to do it. He closed his hazel eyes again. If stabbing the heart was the only way to keep Lila from this madness and torture, then he would do it. He promised himself years ago that he'd die for her, and he would do just that if it came to it. He heard footsteps crunching beneath the sand. Not looking up at the owner of the voice, he recognized the voice as belonging to his father when he heard, "The souls were taken to the Ascension, William."

"Good." He said, in a distant voice, getting up from the beach and brushing the white sand off of him. He met Bill's gaze for a moment, before his father asked, "Lila's asking for you. She's on the Dutchman." William nodded, and was about to say something when Bill said, "I decided to hide the heart from her. It's almost driving her..."

"...insane. I know." His gaze locked momentarily with Saphira's when he passed her, though he didn't say anything to her. This all had to end. They were hiding the heart, and something was telling William that it wasn't because of Lila that they hid it. It was because they were thinking he was too rash. Was he that rash to take his own life for her? No.

Because taking his life for Lila didn't seem rash to him.

He walked back to where the ships made port. He knew that she was in his cabin, still scared at what she had just seen. Calypso had created the Spirit of the Locker as a trap. A trap that would keep all people away from the Locker, driving them mad, except for the Locker's owner. So why was William being affected so much?

He heard it. It was beating in the corner of the deck. He was now nearing the cabin, but stopped before he walked in and put his hand on the dagger that was attatched at his belt. He stared at the metal chest. The beating of his heart was getting louder as he walked closer, as if it knew what he was about to do.

"The only way for Lila to stop being tormented is by stabbing the heart..."

Lila had given him the key earlier. She was afraid that she would kill him, since she had been having those visions. He put his hand to the key and closed his fingers around it as he yanked it off of his neck and walked towards the chest. His heart continued to pound against the metal chest as he placed his hands over the top of the chest, putting the key in the lock. And unfamilar feeling washed over him, similar to the one that he felt when Lila was holding or near the chest. But this one was different. While the feeling with Lila was loving, this one was a feeling of dread. As the key turned in the lock, that same chilling voice rang out in his head once again.

"Stab the heart, William. It's the only way."

When the lock popped open, Will took his hands and lifted the chest open. He stared down at his beating heart for a moment, before pulling the dagger out of his belt. He grasped the handle of the dagger tightly, and stared down at the heart. The beating somewhat slowed down, but it was still more rapid than it usually was. He stared at his reflection in the dagger for a moment, before postioning it over his own heart.

"William, do it....it's the only way."

Why couldn't be bring himself to do it. "There's got to be another way..."

"There's no other way...stab it. Or she'll suffer with madness."

Will took the dagger, which he had during the minute he was thinking placed to his side, and raised it back up to the chest. He put it above his beating heart, and waited. What was he waiting for? He wasn't sure. But he was. He closed his hazel eyes momentarily...he was instantly transported back all those years ago back in Port Royal.

_____
Will's Flashback

Lila was about to leave for England, not knowing when she would come back. If she would ever come back. Lila knew that she wouldn't probably come back, due to the fact that she was getting in the way of Will's destiny...he was meant to be with Elizabeth."But what happens after that year, Will?" She asked, raising her head up to look at him. He had never seen her like this. She was always the kind of girl that held in her emotions. Come to think of it, he really never saw her cry. "What? My father's going to make me go to Lord knows where. And I don't want to leave you-"
"Darling, I know you don't." Will said, pulling her back down on the bench. "Because if you did, I honestly don't think you would have been crying this much-"

"Will, honestly! It's not funny." She said, crying again. The smile on Will's face faded as he pulled her back into his strong arms again. He sighed and said, "Li, I don't want you to leave either. And I don't know what's going to happen after this year, I can't tell you that and I wish I could. But-" He trailed off for a minute, before saying, "-do you really love me?"

"No, Will." She said, pulling herself off of him. "That's only why I've been bloody crying my eyes out for the last aaaa.." She started crying again. He pulled her back to him, scared of what she would do if he didn't. "Lila, if you wanted to...I know you're very young, but if you wanted to, we could-" He trailed off and just stared at her for a moment. "Will, are you serious?" She asked him, not crying anymore as she was trying so hard not to. "Would you-"

"Yes." He said, smiling as he rested his forhead on hers. "Li, if you really want to we will. I'd do anything for you." He felt her take both of his hands in hers as he leaned over and kissed her, before saying, "Princess, will you marry me?" She smiled up at him, before closing the gap between their lips and saying, "You know I will, Will."

She kissed him again, and she could feel him smile against her lips as he brought her closer to him. "I love you." He whispered. Even though they had been courting for months, that really was the first time that she had heard him say it. She pulled back just slightly and said, "I love you too, Turner."

After a minute, he found her back in his arms once more. This time, they were silent. Just thinking. After another minute, she asked him with a smile, "You'd really do anything for me?" She asked him that as she played with the collar of his shirt. He smiled as he reached up and grabbed her hand as he said, "Lila, I'd die for you."

_______

"I'd die for you..."

He would die for her. Will, who had gotten up, walked back over to the chest, Opening it once more, William pulled out his dagger and placed it over the chest. He momentarily thought of Lila and his daughter...Annie...he couldn't do that to her....but he couldn't let Lila live in torment and guilt over a murder she didn't commit. He looked at his heart for a long time, before postioning the dagger over the heart once again.

Closing his eyes, he waited for a moment, before...

Lila, who had been laying in William's cabin, rolled over on his bed and looked out the window out at the Locker. The bright, white shining light seeped through the windows as she got up and walked over to the door. She pulled her golden-brown ringlets back, before she walked out on the deck. Bill, who had made his way back on the ship, watched her as she did this. He looked at her for a moment, before asking, "I sent William to find you."

"He never came." Lila said, meeting Bill's worried gaze. She froze for a moment, and put her hand over where the key should be. Without warning, Lila ran down the stairs and into the lower decks. The door was locked, so Bill came up behind her and shot the knob off. Lila pushed the hanging door back. Lila looked around the dark room for a moment, before spotting him above the chest.

"Will?" She asked, carefully walking closer to him. When she saw him, her own heart seemed to stop beating as she yelled, "WILLIAM!"