Another aging drabble lurking on the hard drive. Entered in the "Flaw" competition at Inuyasha Issekiwa. April 2007, Rating: PG, AU/Humor.

For Want of a Shoelace (or, How Jaken Got to Heaven)

For want of a shoelace, the shoe was lost.

For want of a shoe, Kagome was obliged to return to the Modern Era.

For want of a Kagome, Inuyasha got cranky and followed her, and so wasn’t around when Naraku attacked out the blue, triggering The Final Battle with Naraku.

For want of an Inuyasha, Miroku decided to DO SOMETHING and opened his Kazanna to destroy the nefarious Naraku, and might have succeeded but for the fact that Sango, distraught with concern for his well-being, grabbed his arm, causing him to lose his balance and accidentally suck up Ah-Un, Kohaku, and Rin, who had finally arrived on the scene with Sesshoumaru, late as usual.

For want of a Rin, Sesshoumaru went mad-dog, bat-crazy, ape-shit; obliterating Naraku, Miroku, and Shippou, just for good measure.

For want of Naraku (and a Miroku), Sango was forced to find a new purpose in life and began by consoling a devastated Sesshoumaru, who eventually recovered from the loss of his minions and found solace in her arms; in time, the two of them produced a long line of increasingly beautiful, angsty, and willful children, babysat by a much-abused Jaken, who had no modern amenities like television or video games to entertain them, so that by the time he died he had achieved Enlightenment from years of suffering, weary patience, and detachment and went straight to Nirvana.

And all for the want of a shoelace.