"On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer"

Satoru just sat in silence, feeling completely numb to what had happened. He looked at the coffin before him and narrowed his eyes. Why… you were doing so well… why did you have to go now?!

He clenched his fist tightly as his eyes started to mist over. Even though the Smash tourney was well under way by now, Master Hand gave him a few days off to mourn his father's sudden death and even promised Satoru he wouldn't tell anybody on why.

So here he was, early to his funeral. The rest of his family won't arrive at the funeral home for another half hour. He just… wanted to be left alone, at least for a while.

"Satoru?"

Satoru jumped as he turned around to see someone he didn't expect: Kirby, who poked his tiny round frame by the door with a Maxim Tomato in his stubby little hands.

"W-What are you doing here?" He asked in tone mixed between confusion and anger.

Kirby flinched a little with his voice. "W-Well… I… uh…"

"What are we not allowed to join a friend in mourning?" Said none other than Lucina and (to his surprise) Snake coming into the room as well, both of them wearing all black clothing.

"Did Master Hand tell you I was here? He promised-" Satoru was about to accuse but Snake held up his hand to make him stop.

"Don't blame him, he didn't say anything. Bo's the one who told us; she overheard you talking on the phone in Mii Plaza."

The Mii Brawler inwardly growled in frustration and looked away Why can't that kid mind her own business?!

"She didn't really need to though…" Lucina started making Satoru lift his head. "Reggie and Erin noticed how you've been acting distant with them. We've all noticed…"

He still kept quiet but he subtly noticed on the corner of his eye Reggie and Erin watching them through the door. Even Mr. Peepers was poking his head out. Seeing the dog there made him think back to the other day when he got into an argument with the Hands for "allowing" his dad to get sick. Although they said they don't have that kind of power Satoru wouldn't here it and stormed out of their office, only to find Peepers right outside with a ball. He didn't want to answer any questions so he distracted Peepers with the tennis ball.

"FYI, I didn't appreciate you using the ol' 'fetch' trick to make me forget. Ya think you're the only one who's hurt kid?" Mr. Peepers questioned him sternly as he came into the room.

"Yeah we all loved your old man. Don't you think we would want to be here for you?" Reggie spoke up as Erin nodded in agreement.

"Almost everyone in Smash has experienced loss in some way or another, Satoru. We know how it feels; at the very least let in…" Lucina reasoned; knowing how it feels to lose a parent. Although she got to see them again, somewhat, that didn't mean it hurt any less.

Satoru still remained silent for a moment "A-Are the others here?"

"Yeah… they're in the lobby." Erin answered. "Do you want to…?"

"I'll be there in a second…"

She nodded and went back out. Everyone else took their cue and excited as well. Satoru looked back and saw Kirby leaving the Maxim Tomato by the coffin; even whispering 'goodbye'. As the little puffball turned around, Satoru noticed that he was crying. He's still just a kid… this must've been hard for him too… He thought as he mentally kicked himself for snapping at the little guy.

As he watched Kirby walk out, he noticed Snake was the last to leave.

"Wait a sec…" Satoru asked just as Snake was about to head out the door.

"Yeah?"

At first he hesitated since Snake kinda scares him, but he needed to ask something since he's been through a lot more than most. "H-How do you do it? How do you get over someone's death?"

The mercenary's eyes turned somber for a moment, at first Satoru was kicking himself again for opening his mouth. But was surprised when he started to talk.

"Well, that's just it. You don't 'get over it'. You have to integrate it into your life and learn to live with it. But… life does get better." He answered honestly as he walked out again.

He thought about what he said for a bit until he finally decided to walk out to the lobby. He was somewhat surprised to see all the Smashers there, wearing black, huddled together, some with flowers on hand. Some of them had red, puffy eyes from crying.

They looked up to see Satoru standing there. Some of them looked around each other, almost like they didn't know what to say. The silence was heavy in the room for what seemed like hours but was really a few minutes until Samus got up from one of the couches and went over to him.

The two of them were still silent for a moment. Until Samus did the unexpected: hug him.

Satoru stood there dumbfounded; he's known Samus since Day 1 and doesn't remember seeing Samus hugging anybody. What surprised him more was that she had tears in her eyes. That very second he couldn't hold his emotions anymore and started to cry loudly into her shoulder. The sadness became pretty infectious and a lot of them started crying again as well; from small sniffling to outright sobbing.

It went on for a good ten minutes until he calmed down a bit.

"I am so sorry Satoru…" Zelda said quietly as she and Link came towards them.

"Y-Yeah me too…" He responded between sobs.

"He was a very good man. We will-a miss him dearly." Mario said as he stood up as well, wiping his own tears.

"Us too… I just wished we got to know him a little more…" Villager said as some of other Newcomers agreed. They didn't know his dad as well as the others.

"M-Me too g-guys…" Satoru said before he started crying again.

"It's ok pal. Let it all out…" Samus whispered as she allowed him to cry on her again. He cried for another five minutes before it died down again.

"…Are you alright? Or do you need a third wind?" Palutena asked timidly, not knowing how he would react.

"N-no… I'm ok. R-really…" Satoru responded as he let go of Samus. "Did you guys really come here for me?"

"Of course. We've convinced Master Hand to give us the day off to be here. Not that it was hard." Fox said to him with a small smile.

"I-I'm so sorry for how I've been acting lately." He apologized but Ryu shook his head.

"You have nothing to apologize for. Everyone deals with grief differently."

"And we certainly don't hold it against you…" Marth said sympathetically as the others nodded in agreement.

Satoru looked around the room giving a weak smile that he hasn't been doing for a while. "Thank you guys… T-Thank you…"

Meanwhile outside the building the Hands were floating above them. They arrived earlier but they decided to leave the Smashers alone for a moment.

Master Hand then "looked" up into the sky. "He'll be just fine Mr. Iwata. They'll all be…"

FOR SATORU IWATA

1959-2015

*Sigh* This is a one shot I NEVER thought I would write. But when I found out that he died the words just…came out. I know this is a bit off a…odd tribute, but this is best way I could think of to honor his memory. Funny thing is, seeing the Nintendo Directs to get news for Smash 4 is what introduced me to this man and when I heard on cjzero01's favorite Easter eggs list on YouTube that he cut his own paycheck in half so he wouldn't fire anybody when the Wii U wasn't selling well made me respect him even more. I guess his death hit me harder than I thought even though didn't learn who he is until a year ago was because I grew up with his games before I even knew his name. I didn't have a lot of video games over the years because I can't always afford them, but almost all my games and the few systems I had (SNES, Game Boy Advance, DS and 2DS to be specific) were Nintendo.

So thank you Mr. Iwata for giving me and everyone else who played your games some great childhood memories and my condolences to your family, friends, co-workers and whoever else that you've come to meet over the years.

Rest in peace.