Warnings: Angst. And fluff. And set many years after the prequel "Omedetou." Yes, this was previously chapter two, but for various reasons, I've decided to upload it as a new WIP, and was just waiting to do so until I had the next chapter ready to upload to make the change.

AN: I really have no clue where I was going with "Omedetou" previously, but when I was reading through it again, this just came to me. I have a soft spot for exploration of these muses set years after the cannon, and as I've yet to write them past the 'hey we're young and attracted to each other' phase with the chaos of Dark and Krad around, I figured it was high time to try my hand at it.

That being said, this is written for me and my Satoshi-muse, who is every bit of an angst-whore that I am. It will not be a pretty fic, hell it may get downright ugly, but it will be a hell of a lot more real than a lot of other things I've written in this fandom. It will have all the angst and turmoil of lost chances and what-ifs and probably not a very happy ending, (though who knows) so if you can't handle that, I suggest you not read further. And for those who can, enjoy.

New World's Worth: Chapter One
World Shaker

He shouldn't have been surprised when Satoshi was gone the next day. He should have realized that kiss meant more than just Happy Birthday – Satoshi was all but genetically incapable of doing anything without going out with a bang. That didn't make it hurt any less. Not even a goodbye this time, although… maybe that's what the whole… 'incident' in the art room had been. He flushed at the thought, burying his face in an arm on his desk with a groan. His body felt warm just remembering it. Which was… wrong, wasn't it? Riku made him feel warm too, in different ways, but she should have made his whole body hot like Satoshi had. Right? What was wrong with him?

Nothing! He loved Riku, and that was that.

It would be years before he realized he loved her because she was comfortable, years before he matured enough to even know what that really meant. And by then it would be too late. Satoshi would be gone – not that he hadn't searched, he had. And he was good – good enough to find a trace here or there every few months. But Satoshi was better, especially when he didn't want to be found. And so the times he looked grew further and further between, until it was months, and then a year between each search, because the ache in his chest grew every time he walked away empty-handed.

He went to college, got a degree in both Art History and teaching. He married Riku, and since neither Dark nor Satoshi was there, Saehara was his best man, and it was the happiest day of his life despite the pang of longing. He discovered sex, and the horror-filled consequences of hormonal pregnant women, and the miracle of child-birth.

And he was happy and content and had accepted that he couldn't have everything he wanted.

So when Satoshi entered his life again, it shook his world.

Daisuke sat in the driver's seat, one hand on the wheel and the other resting comfortably against Riku's. Even after all this time, it was the little things that put him a smile in his heart.

"Ice cream?" five-year old Sakura asked from the backseat.

Riku laughed, shifting to look back at their daughter. "Yes, sweetie. You've been very good today. Did you enjoy the beach?"

"Yes!" Sakura grinned and threw her hands up. "Daddy, can I ride on your shoulders again?"

"I think you broke Daddy's shoulders." Daisuke glanced back in the rear-view to find a look of shock forming on Sakura's face. He was about to say he was kidding when Riku beat him to it, landing a punch on his arm with her free hand.

"Daddy's teasing, sweetie."

"Oh." Sakura contemplated that a moment before grinning again. "Ice cream!"

Daisuke shook his head with a smile and glanced at Riku. "She reminds me of someone."

"If you say me when I was pregnant, you'll be sleeping on the couch," Riku said, somehow managing to glare and smile sweetly at once. Girls. He still didn't understand them, and according to his father no man did. Somehow that wasn't comforting.

He wisely kept his mouth shut and the drive continued with Sakura singing in the backseat.

"Hey, what's that?" Riku leaned forward to look at a tall building where there had only been empty land a month before. "Hiwatari Security Solutions. Hiwatari? That sounds familiar…"

Daisuke's heart stopped and it was suddenly impossible to breathe. The car swerved as everything disappeared aside from the sight of that name on the sign. Hiwatari? A shock of memory of an art room and his cherished paintbrushes and one of the most confusing moments of his life crashed over him. Unique blue hair and eyes that never smiled, eyes that held far more pain and darkness than anyone's ever should, let alone a fourteen year old kid. Car horns blaring were enough to snap him out of it and he jerked the car back on track.

"Honey? Are you alright?"

No way. It couldn't be him, it just couldn't. Surely he would have said hi or something? It'd been… Gods, it'd been so long. Ten years now?

"Daisuke! What's wrong? You're pale." Riku looked at him in concern, reaching up to press the back of her hand against his cheek.

"What? No, I'm fine. It's just… We went to school with a Hiwatari, remember?" He glanced at her in time to see a shadow pass behind her eyes before she smiled.

"Oh yeah. Satoshi. You think it's him?"

Daisuke shrugged and glanced in the mirror to catch another glimpse of the sign before pulling into the ice cream parlor a block away. "It might be. It certainly sounds like something he'd do, making his own business for security." He smiled and shook his head as all the traps Satoshi had set came back to him. He'd certainly given Dark a run for his money.

"Do you want to go see?"

Before he could answer, Sakura was out of her seat and climbing between them. "Ice cream!"

Daisuke laughed and pulled her into his lap. "Okay, okay. Like you need any sugar."

"But it's yummy!"

"You're yummy. How about I just eat you?" he said, lifting her up to blow raspberries on her stomach, causing her to squeal and giggle.

Riku climbed out and moved around to Daisuke's door to pull it open. "Okay, give me my daughter you fiend," she said with a laugh. "Come on, Miss Pumpkin Bikini. Strawberry ice cream?"

Sakura wound her arms around Riku's neck and stuck her tongue out at Daisuke. "No, sakura flavor!"

"I don't know, have you been good enough?" Daisuke stood and locked the car behind them.

"Yes," she said, giving him such innocent, scarlet-flecked brown puppy eyes they should have required a license.

He felt his insides melt completely and ignored Riku's snickered "Sucker" as he ordered two scoops of sakura ice cream. They sat near a window and his eyes instinctively looked for the sign, just visible behind a tree and taunting him like a ghost.

"Daisuke? Do you want to go see if it's Hiwatari?"

Daisuke sighed and glanced at Riku, hesitating before nodding. If he didn't find out, it would eat him alive. "If you don't mind stopping on the way back." He picked up a spoon and stole a bite of Sakura's ice cream, the cool sweetness of it heaven after being in the sun all day.

"Oh, Emiko called earlier. She wanted to know if we're still having dinner with them Friday."

"Yeah, I can bring home whatever I don't get graded. Seven right?"

"We're going to see gramma and grampa?" Sakura looked up and completely missed her mouth with the spoon, smearing pink ice cream all over her cheek.

Riku sighed fondly and grabbed some napkins. "Yes, we're going to see grandma and grandpa."

"Yay! I love gramma and grampa's house!"

"That's because she's never tried to kill you with it," Daisuke said under his breath.

Riku slanted a look at him as she wiped Sakura's face. "Come on, it wasn't that bad."

Daisuke snorted, propping his chin on his hand. He'd told Riku a lot of things once Dark was gone, and more when they were engaged, because she had a right to know what kind of family she was marrying into. "Believe me, some days I thought she was really trying to kill me." Thankfully, as soon as Kokuyoku was sealed, the 'training' stopped. That wasn't to say she hadn't still tested him from time to time, when she thought he was losing his touch. Even now he still kept in shape, just in case, and because it had been beaten into his head from a young age to never be idle unless sleeping.

"Emiko loves you too much for that."

"Ha. Just be glad we had a daughter." He smiled as he watched Sakura finish her dessert, gradually listing towards Riku as exhaustion started setting in. "I think it's time for someone's nap."

"No, not tired," Sakura said around a yawn.

Riku hefted Sakura up and they piled back into the car.

"You don't mind if we stop?" he asked. When she shook her head, he smiled and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Love you."

It only took five minutes to change parking lots, and then he was walking into the tall, mostly glass building. Please let it be Hiwatari-kun. Please. I have to know he's okay. Guilt filled his chest for not finding Satoshi sooner. If Satoshi had formed his own business, he should have known about it! When had he stopped looking? Around… the time of the Riku's pregnancy? Because Satoshi hadn't been there. He'd never been there, not for graduation, from high-school or college, or his marriage. Why would he be there for the birth of Daisuke's daughter? And it killed him that that was his excuse.

The air inside was cool, almost enough to be chilly, and he welcomed the shock of it to bury his thoughts. He spotted the front desk with a young lady behind it and made his way to it. "Excuse me."

She looked up with a polite smile. "Yes, how may I help you?"

"Can you tell me who owns this place? Is his name Satoshi?"

"Pardon?"

"The Hiwatari on the sign. Is his name Satoshi?" He couldn't help that he was sounding just a bit desperate; it wasn't every day an old friend – no, more than friend – just potentially happened back into your life.

Before the flustered woman could answer, another stepped up to the desk, this one blonde and looking every bit as foreign as she sounded. "Yes, Mister Satoshi Hiwatari is owner of this business. Who are you?" Her accent was thick, not English or anything he recognized, something much thicker and throatier.

Daisuke's heart skipped a few beats. "Satoshi… Is he here? I need to speak with him. Please. I'm an old friend."

The look she gave him was one of thinly veiled distaste. He knew how he must look – unruly red hair, loud Hawaiian shirt over a white tank, swimming trunks, sandals. It was the price of being a father and one he paid willingly – he couldn't care less what she thought of him. "I am sorry, Mister Hiwatari is in meeting. He is not to be disturbed."

He'd never been one for violence, but he suddenly found himself wanting to claw her eyes out. He swallowed a scream and took a few slow, deep breaths. "When will he be available?"

"I am not sure. It is very important meeting."

"Okay…" No it wasn't okay! He needed to see Satoshi, to tell him… ask him so many things. But Satoshi had a life, and was doing quite well for himself it looked like. He'd have to just… be patient. "Okay. Can you please give him a message? Tell him Daisuke was here and that he can reach me at this number." He picked up a pen and one of the cards on the desk, flipping it over to write his number and handing it over.

She looked at it as though it was against her religion to touch it, but she finally took it, tucking it into the black folder she was holding. "I will see to it."

"Thank you." He relaxed slightly and looked around. "And tell him… Tell him I said welcome home." He smiled and turned to leave with a sigh, wanting to wait around, but he couldn't keep Riku waiting. He had what he'd come for at any rate.

Satoshi was back.