Author's note: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or its characters. This is for the 30 Kisses challenge using list iota. This is set after the game and is slightly AU. Theme 11: What This Means For Us.

Big Machine

She was perched in the window of their hotel room, knees drawn up to her chest. She didn't respond when the door opened and shut or the footsteps across the floor. It was only when Seifer wrapped his arms around her shoulders, drawing her back against him that Quistis reacted. She sighed and turned her face into his stomach.

"We don't have to do this, you know." His fingers found their way into her hair. "We could just let it go."

"We can't afford to do that." Her voice was muffled. "It would ruin everything."

They had been chosen for this mission for a number of reasons. One of the main ones had been the fact that neither of them were in a relationship. Or at least as far as any of the higher ups at Garden were concerned. Of course, they hadn't bothered to ask either Seifer or Quistis. They had just started exploring a romantic relationship at the time. It honestly hadn't been a problem for them to go undercover as a couple to gather intelligence for a major mission that was coming up. At least until now.

"Quistis, I won't force you into this. I can take all the blame."

She met his eyes. "It's not you, Seifer, you know that."

"It's the situation, I know." He kissed the top of her head. "If it helps, we can kill Squall when we get back."

A weak giggle slipped out. "Seifer!"

The two of them were supposed to be infiltrating a mob group as Seath Arrans and Cass Trinnity. They had done pretty well for the last six months too. The way things were going, they would have gathered the last bits of information that Garden needed to plan their attack by the end of the month. And then the mob boss had decided that Seath needed to prove that he was serious about Cass before he could trust him with the final level of information. He had suggested to the two of them just an hour ago that Seath might want to get a move on with a proposal, so they could arrange a wedding before too long. Quistis and Seifer could either get married or forfeit the mission and waste nearly a year's worth of planning and intelligence gathering.

Seifer pulled her up out of her perch and into his arms. "If we do this, if we go through with this, Quistis, I don't want you to think it's only because we have to. I would have asked you for myself in a year or so."

Quistis wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him close. "I love you, Seifer."

He tipped her chin up to kiss her. "I know. It's mutual, sweetheart."

She let him hold her a few moments longer, letting his heartbeat sooth her. They would make this work. They loved each other, and that would be enough to get them through this all. Pulling away, she gave him a small smile.

"So, let's go get married."