A/N: This takes place after KHII when Sora gets back to Destiny Islands. I haven't played KHII, so Sora's character might be off. I just got sooo confused by a giant stinking monster whale eating me in space. KHI makes no sense. At all. .

Hazardous Highway - Sora

"Wait, will you repeat that last part?" My mom asked, looking at me like I had brain damage. She'd believed me when I told her about talking animals and giant creatures of darkness that eat hearts, but she couldn't believe this?

"Our gummi ship got eaten by a giant whale," I repeated, shrugging. Just another average day in outer space, right?

"How in the world – worlds – did a whale get in space?"

I shrugged again.

"There's no oxygen in space. There's no air for whales to swim through. And I can't even think about the size it would have to be to eat a spaceship…" She began to hyperventilate, seriously creeping me out. Mom rarely ever panicked. "Whales are too hazardous to be allowed in space! They shouldn't be physically able to survive in space!"

Well, I'm pretty sure nobody wanted to allow Monstro to fly around space and eat things, but there wasn't a whole lot anyone could do about it. I patted her shoulder, feeling extremely awkward. Maybe the time she spent in Traverse Town after our Islands had fallen to darkness had affected her more than I thought. Or it could be the time she'd forgotten about me; that must've been painful for her, after she remembered, anyway. Come to think about it, she'd been through some pretty messed-up stuff, too. I wasn't the only one who'd had problems.

Mom suddenly pulled me into a hug, burying my face in her loose sky-blue shirt and her flowery scent.

"Mom-" I choked out. Sure, I loved my mom and all, but I couldn't breathe. "Mom, I can't breathe."

She tensed up quickly. "Sorry, sweetie." She let me go, trying to compose herself. "I'm – I'm a bit scared of whales."

Really? That's it? Maybe she had some incident with a whale a long time ago, since we lived in the middle of an ocean, after all.

"I was just kidding about the whale, Mom," I lied, putting on a cheesy grin.

"Really?" Her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"Yeah, I just wanted to see if you would believe it. Sorry I scared you."

Mom laughed self-consciously. "Just don't do it again, sweetie. So, what really happened?"

The rest of my adventure stories were way toned-down after that.