Here it is, as promised, the fateful Thirtieth Chapter! (three chapters in one day, submitted in three consecutive days...I swear I'm on writing crack right now.)

Tifa was in a spring cleaning mood. I cursed the day that women decided that the season that it was nice and sunny outside was perfect for staying inside and being attacked by dust-mites and poisoned by cleaning products. I leaned against the wall, staunch in my belief that cleaning and Reno had no reason to fraternize. Being involved with Cloud seemed to get me into bullshit stuff like this.

I wondered how I had actually gotten myself dragged here. The two reasons were right in front of me. Cloud looked up from the box he was carrying in and met my eyes, a smile playing on his lips, knowing I was hating this. Rude, being the whipped bitch that he is, came for Tifa and hauled me here with him.

The boxes from the attic were lain out around the main room of Seventh Heaven, which had been closed for the occasion. The only good part of this equation was that I was locked up in a place with endless alcohol to keep me busy…if I could keep Tifa's attention away from me.

It seemed like almost the whole Avalanche crew was here: the ever angry Barret, the ever silent Vincent, the ever fuckin' annoying Yuffie, the ever cursing/smoking Cid, and the oddly present Nanaki. I twirled a cigarette between my fingers, wondering how exactly Nanaki could help with 'spring cleaning'. He'd be about as much use as I am, him being sans hands and all. I was very wrong. Barret and Cid had made him into some odd animal-floor mop, tying wet cloths to the bottom of his paws. Funny and resourceful…this might just be an amusing day for me.

It was then that Tifa opened up the box that would make my day. She started to laugh uncontrollably, her shoulders shaking violently, as she lifted up what looked like an odd yellow mop. It seemed to have been put into plaits with two ribbons tied to it.

"What is it?" Vincent asked, surprising me with his interest in the thing. I moved from my place on the wall to stand with the rest of the interested group.

"Yeah, Tifa, what the fuck is that thing?" Cid scoffed at the yellow mess. Tifa snorted with laughter and held her hand to her face. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a slightly red-faced Cloud looking like he was deciding between bolting out the door or attacking Tifa. Tifa lay the thing down on her lap and rummaged expectantly in the box, the smile never leaving her face. Her eyes lit up as she found what she was looking for, pulling a silky purple dress out of the box and standing. Everyone's eyebrows rose, wondering why exactly this was so funny. Tifa smirked and started to laugh again.

"Cloud, I think you want these back," She managed to get out before the giggles took over, chucking the two at Cloud's chest. Cloud glared at her, his blush becoming even starker against his cheeks.

"Cloud," I started, a smirk playing at my lips, "Do I want to know?" He shifted his glare to me, staring me down.

"Cloud, you didn't tell him about your cross-dressing escapades?" Tifa asked with a smile permanently plastered on her lips. Seven pairs of eyes quickly snapped to Cloud's embarrassed face.

"Tifa…" He grumbled, trying to warn her into shutting up. It was no use. She'd gotten all of us, namely me, interested. Tifa launched into a longwinded story about how Cloud had been convinced by Aeris to cross-dress in order to get into the Don's in order to save her.

"I swear, he got about this close to getting picked by the Don as his 'bride'!" she put her finger and thumb about a millimeter away from each other. I bit back a laugh as the others cackled around me, watching Cloud become more and more embarrassed.

"She made me! She said it was the only way!" He grumbled. I slipped over to him, putting an arm around his waist, and leaned close.

"How can I convince you to let me see you in it?" I spoke quietly into his ear, the rest of the group still laughing with each other as Tifa divulged more details. He growled low in his throat, trying to scare me away. "Oh, no, you can't deter me that easily. This is me we're talking about." I quickly ran a tongue over his ear, making sure to keep the public teasing to a minimum: just enough to make him all riled up. A small groan sounded in the back of his throat as he shuddered and I smiled, getting my prize.

"If I do it, and that's saying if," He began quietly, "I get to do whatever I want to you. And I mean whatever I want." He growled dangerously.

"I think I might take up that offer." I mused, tightening my grip on his waist as I imagined what his kinky mind might be coming up with. His hand wondered down from my waist, giving a tight squeeze on my ass, and I struggled not to yelp in surprise.

"Tifa," I called, straightening up. "Cloud and I are gonna go on our…lunch break."

a/n: I finally did it! YAY! I finally used this plotbunny. Oh, wait...and I finally got to thirty chapters! For a non-liner story, I feel like that's a feat of its own. I wanna give specific thanks to a few special reviewers who I feel need to be singled out:

-silenceinlight (my first reviewer, and still going! Very analytical and funny--and you understand my character choices! I love that you're reviews are long...I look forward to your thoughts on chapters. Plus, you review on every update and squee with me about Zack/Cloud love! Much love for all of it.)

-DarkNite109 (who gets plotbunny credit for this chapter AND "Cloud's Debacle, Reno's Fantasy", and who has quickly become one of my favorite writers too. You're constantly giving me ideas and love for this, and I appreciate it so much.)

-EvanNJames (who gets credit for keeping my Reno/Cloud love alive with your love for this 'story' when I was totally out of ideas.)

-SleighBells (very helpful reviews...with a sense of humor. You're always there to update and fuel me on. Plus, you too have fun squeeing with me about Zack...:sigh: Why is he so amazing? I still don't understand why he had to die...damn plot development:tears:)

-cajun-beauty (my second reviewer! Always very supportive, helpful and giving love for this little story, and I really appreciate it.)

-scarlettHuntress (you came in a little later than the others, but I LOVE your reviews. Sweet and to the point!)

-Writing Muse (your reviews always come at the perfect time, right when I'm in a writing lull...dunno how that happens!)

-Toons (Helping me out with the factual questions--love you for it! Thank you for all of your support.)

-Beatrisu (You've been on alert for a while on this, and it makes me happy to see that you like it :shameless promotion: Go check out this one's writing.)

-NextHeaven (I love that you really enjoy the emotion and detail...it's my favorite part of writing it! Yay for starting to love Reno/Cloud. It's addictive, I swear.)

-Small J (My anon reviewer! Love to you, definitely. I'm glad you decided to try out a drabble fic, and that you like it! I'm usually not one for the either, but here I am, writing one! )

-ItsaMiracle (Your day of many reviews made me so happy, since they made my review count jump about ten reviews higher! Thanks!)

You guys have been really helpful and you're multiple posters, which fuels my review-whore nature! Yay! I think I might have given ALL of you 2x plus posters a special mention. I mean, this A/N is almost as long as the chapter :blush:

To all my other reviewers (aka anyone I forgot) and readers, I love you too! You're all amazing. Maybe if I get to fifty chapters, everyone gets a special mention, if they havent already :twitches at thought of writing fifty chapters:. You all are so much of the reason this has been going on for as long at it has. Your helpful words help me find inspiration to crank out more chapters. Let's just hope I can keep it up for you! Cake for everyone! XD

And as an aside...anyone here into art? Anyone interested in doing some fan art? Maybe by commission, maybe out of love, anything really. If you're interested, let me know!

Review please, darlings, and give me ideas if you have 'em!