Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, or any nursery rhymes.

The Mother Goose Escapades

No. 48

For want of a nail the shoe was lost,

For want of a shoe the horse was lost,

For want of a horse the rider was lost,

For want of a rider the battle was lost,

For want of a battle the kingdom was lost,

And all for want of a horseshoe nail.

Kagome sighed as she tapped her pencil against the desk. Essay writing was not exactly her forte, and she was already in danger of failing this class. The fact that this essay could make or break her was only adding more pressure on her. She sighed again and rubbed her eyes tiredly. The scratch of pencils around her filled the air, and she was jealous of these fellow students that could write so much.

The blank paper stared at her. She stared back, willing words to appear on their own. When nothing happened, she raised her pencil over it, resigned to the fact that she was going to be failing. It wasn't the end of the world. No, she thought wryly, letting Naraku win would be the end of the world. Then she shook her head and forced herself to focus on the question on the board.

Write a cause and event paper, preferably about something you know very well.

The things she knew best about currently were things that were happening five hundred years in the past. The irony of did not escape Kagome. She sighed and began writing.

There is a belief that a jewel with tainted beauty exists and it's very existence allows the possibility of the end of the world as we know it. In the case of one individual it caused an entire life time of pain. This was a man who wanted the jewel; despite this, or perhaps because of the jewel, the man also wanted a woman. It could be correct to say the man lusted after a particular woman who was already promised to another.

Kagome felt her stomach tie up a little at that, but tried to remember what Inuyasha had told her.

So, for the want of this particular woman, the man was lost. He was unable to reach this woman, and therefore made a deal with the devil, losing his soul in the process. Now the man was no longer a man but a terrible dark creature who, without his soul, possess no love. He even had no love for the woman anymore, though it seems debatable how much he loved her to begin with. Still, without love, he lost his heart, and becomes an even more powerful dark creature, striking fear into the hearts of those around. Now this heartless, soulless, man-who-is-not-a-man had more powers than anyone or anything, and he was finally able to seize the jewel. With this tainted jewel, he was able to take over the world, creating the worst sort of havoc imaginable.

And all this pain and suffering was brought about because this former man lusted after a woman he was not allowed to have.

Kagome sat back, staring at her paper unbelievingly. There was no way she'd be able to turn in it, but it was too late. Feeling sick to her stomach, she stood and placed it on the teacher's desk. She was the last one in the room, she was pushing the time limit. She swallowed hard, thinking about what she'd written. Lost in her thoughts, she almost ran into the three girls waiting for her.

"Jeez Kagome, you look like death. What'd you write about, the end of the world or something?" Eri's light comment caused Kagome to jump in surprise.

"Yeah, I did," she replied, and walked away.

--

The next day Kagome sat anxiously in class. Inuyasha had protested against her staying another day, unnecessarily staying, he'd added, but Kagome insisted. She hadn't told him what she'd written about because it gave her the creeps and she wasn't certain if he'd understand anyway. She drummed her fingers on her desk nervously, earning herself glares from the other students.

The teacher droned on and on, but class finally ended and Kagome bounded up to find her paper.

B+ was written across the top. Well written and interesting idea, but the idea was to write about something you knew well, was her professor's comments. Kagome smiled slightly, despite her doom and gloom paper, and hurried to leave. She wanted to get home, she wanted to get to Inuyasha and ensure that Naraku would be defeated once and for all.

After all, this was what she knew best and she didn't want it destroyed by the likes ofsome greedy man.

Author's Notes: Hi guys, sorry about the long dely, I sort of took an impromptu vacation with my younger sister to go visit my older siser! It was fun though! Anyways, I found this rhyme and was just blown away at how well it could apply to the events of Inuyasha, so I hope I gave that justice! And so, that leaves us with 48 completed and only two left...