Phenomenon here, fashionably late once again to deliver the final installment of The Replacement! So it's going to be rough wrapping all of this up, but I've had plenty of time to think about it. I'll make a final farewell to this story at the end, since I have a tendency to make this author note too big.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters or SCII or any of its characters.

Day Seven

Backtracking: "Yep, that's the real Sango," Shippo said proudly.

"The real Sango?" Miroku repeated.

Shippo opened his mouth, seemingly to confirm himself, Inuyasha interjected before he said anything. "Nice to see you're back from your little vacation, Sango," he said sarcastically as his and Inferno's swords collided.

"It's nice to—um," Taki elbowed Sango before she could spill the beans, "I mean, huh?"

"As you can see," Inuyasha continued, "We've found a few ways to keep busy." Inferno was finally at the top of his game, countering every move Inuyasha made. The clanging of metal was the dominant sound, and darkness still prevailed even though it was dawn. Finally, Inuyasha was able to fake the demon out and land an upward slash. The move sent Inferno and Soul Edge flying straight upward. "Kagome, now!"

"Yes!" she answered, raised her bow, and fired two arrows. The first one dug itself into Inferno's stomach area. What ensued next was a scream unlike any other, signifying his pain, defeat, and soon-to-come demise. Soul Edge called after it in a voice that could be heard clearly in everyone's minds: No! Not like thi-, aw shit! The second arrow found its mark, right in the middle of the sword's eye.

Now both evil entities were spiraling in mid-air, sporting sacred arrows. There was a split second of a utopian-like peace, and then came a loud and bright explosion. Everyone turned away or shielded their eyes except Kagome, who'd had a smart moment on her last trip home and brought sunglasses with her. After the blast, Inferno was no more and Soul Edge fell from the sky and stuck into the dirt, returned to the form of a simple blade. The darkness was expelled and the sun lit up the sky. Taki approached it with a look similar to disbelief or caution. Slowly extracting it from the dirt, she examined the sword more closely and swung it a few times. When her doubt was removed, she dropped the sword and straightened up as she looked down on the remains of Soul Edge. "I have finally been rid of this burden," she concluded almost breathlessly.

"As have I," Siegfried said from his original spot. He was sitting on the ground, but the sacred arrow was gone and so was the dragon arm, replaced by a human one.

"Well, now that that's all cleared up, I think it's high time we had a talk," Kagome said, looking at her befuddled comrades.

"My thoughts exactly," Miroku agreed.

"I know you got a lot of your information from the three dimwits," Taki told the group, now all sitting in a circle of fallen logs. (A/N: three dimwits: Kilik, Xianghua, Maxi) "I can tell you, though, how I fit into it and what I know of how I made it here.

"Soul Edge was defeated once, but not destroyed. The pieces of it scattered everywhere, corrupting the mind of any man who made contact with it. One such man was my master. Realizing that my demon blade, Mekki-Maru, possessed part of Soul Edge, he set to have it, even if he had to pry my cold, dead fingers off of it. So I ran from my master and from my clan, in hopes of vanquishing this demon.

About a week ago, I was attacked by a troupe of ninjas from my former clan. After taking care of them, I suddenly found myself here. The best reason I can think of why is that the main part of Soul Edge found a way into another dimension, and anything with some sort of connection with it made it here as well. Now that the blade is exterminated, we should be taken back to our own dimension soon, and then maybe I can approach my master in peace."

"Well, that makes sense, but what does that have to do with Sango?"

"It doesn't," Sango replied, "How could it? I may have met Taki once before now."

"Twice," Miroku corrected her.

"R-right…" Sango cautiously agreed. Taki suddenly began to lose her comfort.

"Actually, it was once, Sango. Don't you remember?" Miroku was obviously playing games with her mind.

"Of course I do!" she said quickly.

"What are you guys talking about?" Shippo interjected, "Sango's been gone this whole time! We've been hanging out with Taki instead. I thought it was some sort of a game, so I didn't say anything…didn't you guys know?"

Everyone froze, even Kilala, who was in on the whole thing. Taki and Sango worked up an excuse at the same time. "But…" they both began.

"Wait," Kagome cut in, "I did notice Sango get startled when I sat Inuyasha…"

Inuyasha grumbled at the thought. "She smelled different all week…" he added.

"And Taki and Sango were never seen in the same place…until now." The Kilala was out of the bag, and there was no convincing them otherwise. The two exchanged glances, then shared a sigh. It was time for some more explaining.

"You caught us," Sango began, her head down, "I really was gone this week-"

"-And I was here instead," Taki finished for her, still looking completely calm.

"When I first saw Taki, she and I started up a conversation after noticing our…similar qualities. She agreed to pose for me while I spent some time elsewhere. And she must've done a pretty good job to fool you all…" she glanced at Shippo, "…for the most part."

Taki huffed. "I got the most hassle from this one," she pointed to Miroku's spot, which was currently vacant. Not missing a beat, she turned to her other side where Miroku was now perched between her and Sango and taking her hand. "Not Sango, but just as beautiful…this must be some sort of blessing-" Miroku's sentence was cut off by the wrath of Sango, which was completely unaffected by her vacation. Taki looked down at the temporarily incapacitated monk with a glint in her eyes. "Or is it some sort of curse?" she said.

An energy caught her attention and she looked into the sky. The rest of the group followed suit. A few black clouds joined together and began swirling around like a whirlpool. Taki took note of it and nodded. "It looks like my time is up. Farewell, and good luck with your journeys." After a few short goodbyes, both parties went their separate ways. Sango, however, lagged behind until the group was out of eyesight. Checking over her shoulder one more time, Sango stood in front of Taki and placed a small burlap sack into her hands. "Things happen, right?" she said while still holding onto it.

"Absolutely," Taki laughed, then took a bow before taking her pay. She turned to the cloud formation, but before leaping into it, she said one last thing to Sango: "I hardly know you, yet I completely respect you." Two seconds later, she was gone, along with those other crazy characters.

"Sango! Come on!" Sango turned at the sound of her name, then looked at the miniature Kilala, who responded by hopping onto her shoulder while she ran to catch up.

"Where did you go, exactly?" Miroku asked when he saw her coming.

"Away from you," she replied smoothly.

"Now, Sango, don't be like that."

"Like what?" Kagome asked, "Herself?"

"Or worse." The two girls laughed heartily. "And by the way," Sango said, sobering up, "Do you have any relatives outside of the islands?"

"No…" Miroku replied slowly, "Why?"

"Just wondering."

THE END (FINALLY)

That's all folks, that's all! I know this will go on to be one of my favorite fics, because it's currently the longest, I spent the most time on it, and I love the reviews I got for it! I'm so glad that this one-shot expanded in a way that I could write it mostly with ease, and it held the audiences' attention. And let me tell you, Unknown Wanderer and Kamon, thank you for being so loyal! You're the best! Please tell me what you thought of the fic overall, and look out for my future fics, one of which will be a one-shot, then another long term fic. Now, farewell to this story, and farewell to you!