Faith v. 3.0 (Cloti Club)

Graymouse

Pro Adventurer
Guys, I am very hesitant to post this. I normally don't do this but, I too have wrote some fan fiction.

Tifa stood on the threshold of Seventh Heaven as one of the last customers for the evening finally decended the stairs of the bar. Tifa smiled brightly and waved at the customer while wishing him a good night. As she watched him leave, she placed her hands on her hips and sighed deeply. Tifa was really tired this evening, she turned around and looked into the vacant bar and felt an overwhelming urge to just turn off the lights and lock the door and turn in for the evening. She thought that she will just clean up in the morning. She turned back around and looked out the door and up at the evening sky. She wondered where could he be tonight? She knew that he had a full schedule of deliveries to make because he told her earlier this afternoon that he might not make it back tonight and not to worry about him. This has become more and more frequent in recent times, she knew that they need the Gil. Especially, now that he has to support the four of them.

She frowns and walked back into the bar closing and locking the door behind her. She momentarily leaned back against the closed door and thought about the things that have happened over the past several months. A sudden rush of emotions floods over her and she quickly brushed them aside as she walks away from the door and begin to pick up the empty glasses that were left on the tables and brought them back to the sink that was behind the bar. She started to wash the glasses as she thought by now, Barret should have both kids bathed and put to bed. Barret always comes by and helps out when Cloud is away on his deliveries. Barret will probably be coming down the stairs any second to have a last drink before he returns back home. Just like clockwork, heavy footsteps are heard descending the stairs from the upper living quarters and the side door suddenly bursts opens with a very large man standing in the doorway.

"Tifa!, How about a drink for the road?" "Sure thing, but let me finish up washing these glasses first." Tifa remarks. Barret smiles, and closes the door behind him and walks over to one of the tables to sit down. A loud dull metallic clank can be heard as his arm rests on the table. Barret looks over at Tifa. Her back facing towards him. Barret can sense the tense atmosphere. "You know Tifa, he is out there earning money for you and the family." "I know that, but still I can't help but think that he is pushing himself too hard." she replied. "Don't you be worry your pretty head about all that. All you need to know is that he is doing his best he can to support you all." "I know." came the weak reply from the sink area. Tifa's normally bright and soft facial expressions suddenly turned sad. She promised herself that she will not let her anxiety take over. She shakes off her feelings and forces a smile as she finished washing the last glass and puts it on the counter to dry. She turns around and faces Barret. Who was already looking at her with a puzzled look on his face as she turned around. "Tifa, why do you try so hard to be cheerful when you have all these feelings bottled up inside?" "Have you talked to him about what you are feeling?" Barret asks. "You can tell huh? No, I haven't got around to asking Cloud about it yet." "It's just that it seems like our lives are so out of step sometimes." Came the uneasy reply. Barret, looks at Tifa. Tifa continues "I know that it is cliche to say that timing is everything, you know but I feel that we just don't have time to sit down and talk. We are both so busy building our lives together but I feel that we are forgetting the most important thing is each other." " I see." came the reply back from Barret. "So, basically what you are saying is that while you are so busy building your life together that you feel that you are not spending enough time with each other?" Barret continues. "hmmm, what you guys need to do is make the time." You need to close this bar one night of the week and Cloud needs to not make delieveries one night. It is not going to hurt you guys to close for one day out the entire week and spend time with each other and more importantly spend time with the family." Barret says annoyed. "Perhaps, you are right, Barret." Tifa meekly replied.

Tifa reaches under the bar and pulls out a bottle of red liquid and a clean glass. She walks over to where Barret is sitting and sits the glass in front of him and pours the liquid into his glass. Just as she was putting the bottle down and turning to walk away Barret grabs her by the arm "Tifa, he loves you more than you ever would know. You are both too damn similar in personalities. Both of you hesitate at the last damn minute. He spends all day thinking about nothing but you. In fact I am damn tired of hearing him talk about you all day. It is getting annoying. I come back here and see you walk around here with your forced smile. That is damn annoying too! You both need to stop your damn charades and talk to each other properly!" Barret says angerly. "Even Marlene and Denzel are concerned about you two. You two need to spend the night together, like the night you spent underneath the high-wind." Tifa's face turned red and she quickly became flustered. Barret, let go of her arm and large smile quickly came across Barret's face and he let out a loud laugh." You two crack me up" Barret, picks up the glass and drinks its contents in one large gulp. He puts the glass back on the table and stands up and walks towards the front door. "Well, that will be it for me tonight" as he turned the knob on the door. "The kids are asleep so everything should be good to go."

Barret, raises his hand up over his head to wave goodbye and before Tifa could even comment the door was closed behind him. As Tifa stared at the closed door a puzzled look was on her face. What did Barret just say? She walked back over to the front door to lock it and looked around the bar to make sure that nothing was left out. She walked passed the table where Barret sat and picked up the glass and bottle of red liquid and placed the bottle on the counter and the glass into the sink. She looked one around one last time and turned to walk to the door that leads upstairs to the living area. She opens the door and switches off the light to the bar.

As she opened the door to the stairwell she looked down onto the floor. There was a trail of flowers leading up the stairs and into the living area. Curiously she follows the trail of flowers up the stairs and to a bedroom door that was closed. She quickly opened the door and to her complete suprised stood Cloud in the middle of the room with a smirk on his face. Tifa eyes filled with tears and burst of emotion overflowed within her. "Oh Cloud!" She ran over to him and gave him a huge hug. In between her sniffles and whimpers she asks. "How are you here? Is this a dream?" "Cloud gently touched her cheek and wiped the tears away from her face with his thumb. "No, Tifa this isn't a dream. I took the night off to be with you." Cloud responded quietly."You big meanie, making me worry sick about you when you had planned this all along." She said angerly. But the anger susided quickly "I am genuinely touched that you were thinking about me this entire time." "Tifa, I always think about you. I know that sometimes I have a hard time saying what is on my mind. Please understand that my feelings for you will never change." He swallows hard, "Tifa... I love you." "Oh, Cloud I love you too." Tifa bursts into tears again. Cloud touches her cheek and leans in and kisses her.

Barret looks up at the window from outside and see two silhouettes merge into one as he turns and walks away with a large grin cross his face "Them two are goin' be alright." He laughs.

I hope that you enjoy it.
 
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DutchDread

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Dutch Dread
No, it definitely would NOT work! The thought alone is absolutely horrifying :no:

Tifa needs Cloud and that’s that. Nothing else would work, seriously. That’s like saying, Katara and Zuko and Aang and... dunno, Toph? Or Naruto and Sakura *shudders* . That goes against everything the stories established.

I agree, if Zack shows up in everyone’s timeline, the LTD is as good as over. Because Aerith loves Zack and Cloud loves Tifa. That’s the unchangeable story.
Well, while I do shudder at Naruto and Sakura (I watched that show for 10 years PURELY to see if he'd end up with Hinata, I argued that as much as the LTD, and damn straight up cheered during her confession), I kinda dig the idea of Aang and Toph, and Katara and Zuko XD
 

odekopeko

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Peko
Not to ruin the mood, but since people on this forum were avoiding telling me about it for some reason, I ended up discovering the Koibito Debate (2020 version).mp3 on twitter, on my own, yesterday, and I dun lost it. Who's gonna tell them that it's the year 2020 now, and there are dozens of translation apps you can use that lets you pull up Japanese phrases, translated into English, to help you see how the word is normally used? So many useful tools and resources, and everyone's so allergic to them.

IMG_20200522_004456.jpg
Anyway! If both girls are to live, I don't picture Cloud with any of them. He'd be wavering until the end of time. Let's say Aerith lives and he chooses to be with her, Remake Cloud totally seems too much the jealous type to let any other man have a chance at dating Tifa. Guy's already attracted to her, keeps going out of his way to be there for her like he promised, gets mad when other guys try to hit on her or give her flowers. Cloud's definitely gonna end up having an affair with her. That's not a healthy relationship either.

And, now that Dutch brought it up, I honestly don't know how I'd feel if Aerith chose to actively pursue a romance with Cloud after the flower scene was highlighted. The one where she clearly sees that Tifa is the woman Cloud gave the flower to. And not only that, she now knows Tifa lovingly nurtured the flower in a vase, leaving it in a place where she could look at it everyday.

And I understand now that Cloud may not have access to his true self's hidden feelings for Tifa, but isn't his confused self the one that's supposed to be wavering between both women? So then not only is his confused self attracted to Tifa, and also spending more time with her, wanting to keep her safe and comfort her, but then his true self also has feelings for her too? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Sorry for the tl;dr. I do wonder how the LT will play out, but the more discussions I lurk around here reading, the more I realize there's so much more interesting stuff than the romance going on in the game, and I actually hope they put it on the back burner in the second installment.

@Graymouse Enjoyed the read. It's cute! If you split the dialogue into separate sentences to make it easier to read, I would love it even more. ;) Can't imagine Cloud doing any grand romantic gestures, or saying, "I love you," but I do think he needs to tell her that at least once! (Nojima needs to remember he's not Japanese, so it's not going to kill him, if he says, "I love you!") Oh, my older brother did do the flower trail thing for his wife, who said she doesn't like that kind of stuff, and he said she absolutely loved it. Thanks for letting me see them be happy!
 

Eerie

Fire and Blood
I think it's more SOLDIER!Cloud is into Aerith and True!Cloud is into Tifa. Especially since Aerith plays into Cloud's fake persona agenda of being a hero to a damsel in distress (even though she ain't one), while Tifa doesn't. And Aerith is also attracted to his SOLDIER self, since some of it has some Zack side (it's a mix between Sephiroth and Zack, because he greatly admired Sephiroth and Zack had such an impact on him when he died... it's really how Cloud thinks a SOLDIER should be). Meanwhile, Tifa wants True!Cloud.

It's all a mess, really, but it's also the answer as to why only Tifa can help him and become his lover.

Edit: clarity, used DiD and thought maybe people don't know it's for damsel in distress, sorry!
 
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Ruri

Pro Adventurer
Loved the post @odekopeko please don't apologise for the tl;dr, I agree with everything.

Sorry for the tl;dr. I do wonder how the LT will play out, but the more discussions I lurk around here reading, the more I realize there's so much more interesting stuff than the romance going on in the game, and I actually hope they put it on the back burner in the second installment.

rant inc:

I am so, so sick of the more intense shippers finding symbolism in any detail, minor or otherwise, of the game they happen to be nitpicking in the moment, taking it, twisting it to be shippy and then trying to tell you it's some sort of significant romantic detail that you overlooked. If you take something and vague it as much as possible, sprinkle it with fifteen sets of mental gymnastics, you can find a lot of hidden meanings because you're biased brain is making you think they are there. VII is not a love story. I feel 'Hollow' has been molested. It's ambiguous and about Cloud's mental self and yet shippers have automatically claimed it as the tune of an epic love, because it's ambiguous. The scene when Hollow played was not even a romantic scene. I am in no sense saying it can't be about whoever, but I completely am against the intensity and degree it is held to.

It is such a shame that the beauty of the story is overlooked like this, well a shame for these folks this rant is aimed at in particular. My shipping bias aside, I remember played part 1 being thankful just to play the remake at all. I wasn't wearing my shipping goggles and holding a pitchfork, and I won't be doing that in part 2 either.

re fanarts:

Always needing more Cloti family fanart in the world.
 

Graymouse

Pro Adventurer
Loved the post @odekopeko please don't apologise for the tl;dr, I agree with everything.



rant inc:

I am so, so sick of the more intense shippers finding symbolism in any detail, minor or otherwise, of the game they happen to be nitpicking in the moment, taking it, twisting it to be shippy and then trying to tell you it's some sort of significant romantic detail that you overlooked. If you take something and vague it as much as possible, sprinkle it with fifteen sets of mental gymnastics, you can find a lot of hidden meanings because you're biased brain is making you think they are there. VII is not a love story. I feel 'Hollow' has been molested. It's ambiguous and about Cloud's mental self and yet shippers have automatically claimed it as the tune of an epic love, because it's ambiguous. The scene when Hollow played was not even a romantic scene. I am in no sense saying it can't be about whoever, but I completely am against the intensity and degree it is held to.

It is such a shame that the beauty of the story is overlooked like this, well a shame for these folks this rant is aimed at in particular. My shipping bias aside, I remember played part 1 being thankful just to play the remake at all. I wasn't wearing my shipping goggles and holding a pitchfork, and I won't be doing that in part 2 either.

re fanarts:

Always needing more Cloti family fanart in the world.

I know what you mean, it gets really frustrating sometimes. I don't mind or don't care which ship you choose to sail or how you sail it, but when you completely and unaplogeically twist and turn and shape things with not even the slightest proof or reference but only your head canon this is where I kinda get a bit flustered about the LTD. Forgive me using an old idiom but no matter how hard you try you cannot fit a square peg in a round hole. It just doesn't work.

Edited to add:

tumblr_nbjofbSYOp1rc0rxdo1_1280.jpg
 
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odekopeko

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Peko
There's so much cute fanart for Cloti!

It is such a shame that the beauty of the story is overlooked like this, well a shame for these folks this rant is aimed at in particular. My shipping bias aside, I remember played part 1 being thankful just to play the remake at all. I wasn't wearing my shipping goggles and holding a pitchfork, and I won't be doing that in part 2 either.

No matter what happens, or who ends up the canon couple of FF7R, I just love everything so much about it, that I don't think it will sour my experience.

I'm buying Ultimanias, and at @Final_Heaven's suggestion, the novels written by Nojima, and I even ordered the soundtrack. The only time I've ever experienced this level of love and dedication for a game and its characters was Suikoden 2, which I got to play recently.

And because I was a bit traumatized by my experience of running away/trying to change events in Suikoden 2 (my choice to escape "fate", actually ended up causing undesirable ripples in the story, leading to unintended deaths of other characters), I hope we don't have to go that route in FF7R.

I think it's more SOLDIER!Cloud is into Aerith and True!Cloud is into Tifa. Especially since Aerith plays into Cloud's fake persona agenda of being a hero to a damsel in distress (even though she ain't one), while Tifa doesn't.

Yes, but I'm starting to getting confused. SOLDIER!Cloud also seems to be attracted to Tifa, but is frustrated and pouts exactly because she's not playing into that. His true self briefly emerging at times, and us seeing small glimpses of it, doesn't discount that, for the most part, he is still SOLDIER!Cloud, right? I'm a bit uncertain on that.
 
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Eerie

Fire and Blood
Every time you see Cloud pouting like a puppy, is mostly his true self showing up, like in the carriage scene. You have to remember that True!Cloud also wants to protect Tifa and be her hero.

SOLDIER!Cloud and True!Cloud do share the desire to help everyone, because it's part of True!Cloud's true nature (that's a lot of true, isn't it?) that influenced his fake persona. When he met Tifa at the station (at least in the OG it was like this), Cloud combined with Jenova cells made a fake persona based on what he believed to "be a SOLDIER and a hero". This is how his vision of Sephiroth pre-Nibelheim incident, ZACK especially ZACK and his own thoughts got mixed. Because he wanted to impress Tifa, because she thought he was a SOLDIER, this fake persona was born.

True!Cloud is seen after the Lifestream in the OG, but also during CC where you get to interact with him. He's a sweet potato, really. <3
 

Yumelinh

Pro Adventurer
Loved the post @odekopeko please don't apologise for the tl;dr, I agree with everything.

rant inc:

I am so, so sick of the more intense shippers finding symbolism in any detail, minor or otherwise, of the game they happen to be nitpicking in the moment, taking it, twisting it to be shippy and then trying to tell you it's some sort of significant romantic detail that you overlooked. If you take something and vague it as much as possible, sprinkle it with fifteen sets of mental gymnastics, you can find a lot of hidden meanings because you're biased brain is making you think they are there. VII is not a love story. I feel 'Hollow' has been molested. It's ambiguous and about Cloud's mental self and yet shippers have automatically claimed it as the tune of an epic love, because it's ambiguous. The scene when Hollow played was not even a romantic scene. I am in no sense saying it can't be about whoever, but I completely am against the intensity and degree it is held to.

It is such a shame that the beauty of the story is overlooked like this, well a shame for these folks this rant is aimed at in particular. My shipping bias aside, I remember played part 1 being thankful just to play the remake at all. I wasn't wearing my shipping goggles and holding a pitchfork, and I won't be doing that in part 2 either.

re fanarts:

Always needing more Cloti family fanart in the world.


Are you me? Lol, but really I've been seeing so much of this recently that it makes me wonder if it has always been like this or I was just not active enough in the fandom in the past to notice. Thankfully, this forum seems to be such a safe place to discuss and I barely see any of it around here.

There's so much cute fanart for Cloti!

Yes, but I'm starting to getting confused. SOLDIER!Cloud also seems to be attracted to Tifa, but is frustrated and pouts exactly because she's not playing into that. His true self briefly emerging at times, and us seeing small glimpses of it, doesn't discount that, for the most part, he is still SOLDIER!Cloud, right? I'm a bit uncertain on that.

Let me explain it to you as I understand ( it can be wrong btw :sweatsmile:):

In OG, SOLDIER!Cloud wavers between both heroines, however, the plot seems to push Aerith more. Your choices as a player also impact how you perceive the game in the first half since if you want you can favor Tifa (or none of them) as well. Post-Lifestream Cloud favors Tifa as he's finally able to recover his memories/feelings and who he truly is.

In Remake, SOLDIER!Cloud wavers between both heroines, however, the plot doesn't seem to be pushing a specific heroine this time around. So, both girls have quality time with said hero. The rest is up to be seen. o/


True!Cloud is seen after the Lifestream in the OG, but also during CC where you get to interact with him. He's a sweet potato, really. <3

I'll always be angry at how in FFVII's legacy, Cloud is most remembered for his SOLDIER persona when in fact his real self is such a shy cutie~~ :rage:

Tbh, SE has a lot of fault in it for always portraying him this way for fear that people will not recognize Cloud if he's not his soldier self. But it's like betraying one of the game's great messages (that embracing who you are instead of being ashamed of it is the greatest strength of all)as well as making the whole point of the revelation that he had a false persona kinda useless.

Remake seems to be going in the right direction when it comes to this. So let's hope this time around people can see more of his awkward cutie self *_*
 
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Graymouse

Pro Adventurer
There's so much cute fanart for Cloti!

The only time I've ever experienced this level of love and dedication for a game and its characters was Suikoden 2, which I got to play recently.

And because I was a bit traumatized by my experience of running away/trying to change events in Suikoden 2 (my choice to escape "fate", actually ended up causing undesirable ripples in the story, leading to unintended deaths of other characters), I hope we don't have to go that route in FF7R.

I really loved the entire Suikoden series. A great series of games from the PS1 era.

I plan to get the FF7R Ultimania once it gets translated into English in the next 3 years or so. :'( I already have the artbook and the soundtrack for the game. I am not sure if I will be getting the play arts kai figurines or not just yet.
 

verse1994

Lv. 25 Adventurer
AKA
verse
:P


Not that it matters in the long run, but It's good to know that the people who work there seem to have a preference :)
That's great. I saw it too. Also both Japanese and English cloud's va prefer cloti as well. So as the composer of HOLLOW. This makes me wonder who stand for Clerith in SE. I used to think it is Nojima, but Nojima liked that 'God of Cloti' tweet fanart.
 

iamhorde

Pro Adventurer
Guys, I am very hesitant to post this. I normally don't do this but, I too have wrote some fan fiction.

Thanks for sharing! I enjoyed it, could even hear Remakes' VO voicing those lines. I sure wish TRUE Cloud would learn to be more expressive.

Sorry for the tl;dr. I do wonder how the LT will play out, but the more discussions I lurk around here reading, the more I realize there's so much more interesting stuff than the romance going on in the game, and I actually hope they put it on the back burner in the second installment.

While I wouldn't mind more romantic scenes between Cloud x Tifa, honestly I feel like they demonstrate the most chemistry in battle. I don't think I've ever seen such combat synergy from any other FF power couple.


That's great. I saw it too. Also both Japanese and English cloud's va prefer cloti as well. So as the composer of HOLLOW. This makes me wonder who stand for Clerith in SE.

Considering where SE has taken Cloud x Tifa within the compilaton of FF7, if the Remake still leaves the LTD ambiguous by the end, I think that would have been clearly a business decision.
 

Graymouse

Pro Adventurer

Poor Tifa, our Lady is terrified of ghosts. She has such a cute reaction to the spectral type monsters. I love the fact that she is a hardened fighter but yet can be very scared of ghosts.
 

Cat on Mars

Actually not a cat
I
But since we're talking big IFs and alternate timelines / universe, a Zack x Tifa and Cloud x Aerith pairing might kinda work too. I could see Zack's more optimistic worldview and positive spirit rubbing off on Tifa. Tifa has always been there supporting Cloud and helping him to find his true self, everything she's done so far has been pretty selfless, perhaps Zack for a change could be Tifa's support. I'm digressing, just really think Tifa deserves someone great after all that she's been through.
Lol I ship them or fun because it's total crack, but I thought pretty much the same when I looked at it rationaly. I think Zack could get the most out of martial artist Tifa, I have this headcanon that Zack had good hand to hand combat training, as shown in CC, and Tifa can't wait to kick his ass someday (and Zack is all for it). :awesome:
Plus, I see them as a very energetic couple.

No, it definitely would NOT work! The thought alone is absolutely horrifying :no:
If you place them in Nibelheim and think they were banging non-stop, at least you get an explanation of why Zack didn't care about Sephiroth going nuts in that basement. :monster:
Eh, it's better than what he actually did: fuck all, aka the most extreme degree of nothing.

See, I don't get rabid shippers. It's like they didn't even enjoy FFVII, Remake or whatever. They just want their ship above all and it's sad.
But yeah, they're frustrating af. They are the reason I created Sephnova, after all.
 

iamhorde

Pro Adventurer

Poor Tifa, our Lady is terrified of ghosts. She has such a cute reaction to the spectral type monsters. I love the fact that she is a hardened fighter but yet can be very scared of ghosts.

This is absolutely precious. I love the scene where she tries to open the door but couldn't and flings her arms in frustration. Tifa is such a grounded character and you can tell how much attention to detail have gone into fleshing out these characters. This also happens to be my sole source of faith that SE wouldn't ruin the Remake because you can tell how much they too love these characters.
 

Sasseli

~*:Newbie:*~
@Cat on Mars I reject the term rabid shipper for myself, thanks.
I have favourites and I don’t like implausible ships, that’s all. Plus, the thought is disgusting, he knew that his best friend is in love with Tifa, why in burning hell would he fuck her? ( And their age! There’s something in me that is concerned about that, too, maybe because of my own biography).

Yeah. Plus that’s the CloTi thread, so go to the Cesspool or make your own thread, thanks.

I‘m not angry, please don’t misunderstand it. Just a tad annoyed that you called me that. :P

And I do enjoy the game! A lot! Just not when people with random ships come around the corner (at least not when they’re serious.) It‘s my personal preference, I don’t really like jokes about pairings. Let me have that preference without feeling insulted, k? :P
 
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Shadowfox

You look like you need a monkey
Poor Tifa, our Lady is terrified of ghosts. She has such a cute reaction to the spectral type monsters. I love the fact that she is a hardened fighter but yet can be very scared of ghosts.

Is it weird that I built up a headcanon about how the Nibel mountain range is a region where the lifestream naturally converges? And that over the generations, Nibelheim built up a lot of legends and superstitions to explain any weird phenomena that came about due to their exposure to the lifestream there, including the legend of finding dead souls at Mt. Nibel. Like, every child of Nibelheim had spooky tales and superstitions drummed into them about how they'll be lured away by the dead at Mt. Nibel, never to be seen again, etc. And that's why Cloud and Tifa are so rattled when they encounter the ghosts in the train graveyard.

Shinra, of course, wouldn't care much about local legends, only that there's lots of mako for their reactor.
 

Graymouse

Pro Adventurer
I also think in the Remake, Marlene was telling Tifa the story while they were sitting in Seventh Heaven. I think that also added to her anxiety at the train graveyard.
 

DutchDread

Pro Adventurer
AKA
Dutch Dread
And their age! There’s something in me that is concerned about that, too
If I remember correctly Zack was only 18 as well during the Nibelheim incident, while Tifa was 15, that's not a huge discrepancy I think.

But yeah, the fact that Zack wouldn't screw over Cloud like that, the fact that he himself was clearly deeply in love with Aerith, and the fact that he showed zero interest in Tifa basically makes it so that we can be sure this never happened.

I never really get random ships between characters who never really interact. I mean, sure, Zack and Tifa talk a bit in CC, but show zero sign of being interested in each other, why would people ship that?
 
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