Eerie
Fire and Blood
Well Tifa's theme is, IIRC, already a yearning about reuniting with Cloud.
Also, @shady, I do not believe for one second that Remake!Aerith is dead!Aerith - I'll even go further: let's call her CoLW!Aerith, because she is close to her in my mind. In Remake we saw CoLW!Aerith only once and it was in her resolution. Personally, Aerith had most of her future memories until the end of the game, which is why she knew CT was going to become a pair. I am not sure whether she knew or not that she was going to die soon, there are many things that Aerith did not know. I think however that CoLW!Aerith did send her those memories from the future, to prepare her to what was coming. I think that while some things for CoLW!Aerith are off limits, trying to get better prepared is definitely OK.
The problem is that Aerith loses that knowledge at the end of Remake. I think it's something that hurts her deeply and that only Red is able to comprehend, at some level (he lost way less memories than her), which is how they bond in Rebirth. In Rebirth, Aerith acts like her own self: she's got plenty of life, wants to enjoy it at its fullest, hence her wanting to visit, make memories, etc. She's also falling for Cloud, at the very least I think we can all agree that she has growing feelings for him. She sees him with Tifa, she sees their relationship, and because she has lost those future memories and what they entailed (she probably lost what those memories made her think too), she gets misled. She thinks Cloud and Tifa act like this because they're childhood friends - and indeed they talk a lot about their memories when they were kids. She gets envious of their bond, not seeing that indeed the reason why she wants it is because it's the way Zack treated her.
Which leads to the ToA - at the end, when Sephiroth talks about the fake black materia, he says it's a key meant to guide you in those worlds. Aerith manages to get it, and for a time before she gives it to Cloud, she tells him to not worry, that she'll be there for him. I think this is very important because after that, we go to the dream date: Aerith sends Cloud to that world. She needs Holy. And it's CoLW!Aerith that awaits there, and who wants desperately to get her answer. She could never get it, never confess, so she wants to take the opportunity, so to speak. So, in her world, the date happens and we can clearly see that it doesn't go well; at the church, she does understand that he's friendly with her not because he sees her like Zack saw her, but because she is his friend, and he's kind to his friend (note: while not possessed). And so, it's a heartbreak, she says sorry, hugs him and gives Holy back to him. Sephiroth arrives, but I believe that it's at this time that she's called into Remake for her own resolution, she didn't have the time to digest really neither what happened, neither her feelings for both Cloud and Zack. This CoLW!Aerith still is extremely sad so I believe that she has not met Zack again. She's always been extremely torn between the feelings she still had for Zack, and the growing ones she had for Cloud, so Aerith's resolution won't be before she can meet Zack again.
But I'll let you think: all those worlds are reflection of our world and happen to be worlds where Aerith tries to save Zack. All of these worlds are a reflection of her own true desire, as those are "her world".
Also, @shady, I do not believe for one second that Remake!Aerith is dead!Aerith - I'll even go further: let's call her CoLW!Aerith, because she is close to her in my mind. In Remake we saw CoLW!Aerith only once and it was in her resolution. Personally, Aerith had most of her future memories until the end of the game, which is why she knew CT was going to become a pair. I am not sure whether she knew or not that she was going to die soon, there are many things that Aerith did not know. I think however that CoLW!Aerith did send her those memories from the future, to prepare her to what was coming. I think that while some things for CoLW!Aerith are off limits, trying to get better prepared is definitely OK.
The problem is that Aerith loses that knowledge at the end of Remake. I think it's something that hurts her deeply and that only Red is able to comprehend, at some level (he lost way less memories than her), which is how they bond in Rebirth. In Rebirth, Aerith acts like her own self: she's got plenty of life, wants to enjoy it at its fullest, hence her wanting to visit, make memories, etc. She's also falling for Cloud, at the very least I think we can all agree that she has growing feelings for him. She sees him with Tifa, she sees their relationship, and because she has lost those future memories and what they entailed (she probably lost what those memories made her think too), she gets misled. She thinks Cloud and Tifa act like this because they're childhood friends - and indeed they talk a lot about their memories when they were kids. She gets envious of their bond, not seeing that indeed the reason why she wants it is because it's the way Zack treated her.
Which leads to the ToA - at the end, when Sephiroth talks about the fake black materia, he says it's a key meant to guide you in those worlds. Aerith manages to get it, and for a time before she gives it to Cloud, she tells him to not worry, that she'll be there for him. I think this is very important because after that, we go to the dream date: Aerith sends Cloud to that world. She needs Holy. And it's CoLW!Aerith that awaits there, and who wants desperately to get her answer. She could never get it, never confess, so she wants to take the opportunity, so to speak. So, in her world, the date happens and we can clearly see that it doesn't go well; at the church, she does understand that he's friendly with her not because he sees her like Zack saw her, but because she is his friend, and he's kind to his friend (note: while not possessed). And so, it's a heartbreak, she says sorry, hugs him and gives Holy back to him. Sephiroth arrives, but I believe that it's at this time that she's called into Remake for her own resolution, she didn't have the time to digest really neither what happened, neither her feelings for both Cloud and Zack. This CoLW!Aerith still is extremely sad so I believe that she has not met Zack again. She's always been extremely torn between the feelings she still had for Zack, and the growing ones she had for Cloud, so Aerith's resolution won't be before she can meet Zack again.
But I'll let you think: all those worlds are reflection of our world and happen to be worlds where Aerith tries to save Zack. All of these worlds are a reflection of her own true desire, as those are "her world".
. I'm always story over shipping but I do have my bias for Cloti so was wondering if my views were just biased. But I've looked over this story from multiple angles and my conclusion is still on a narrative point. It has been so long since I've seen a videogame set up a couple being Tifa and Cloud this clearly if at all ever. This game has almost every romantic trope known in fiction for these two throughout the game. The game even starts with angst between them. With the villains main goal for most of the game to sever the bond between them. The real thing I noticed after looking at other playthroughs and the other dates. Is the difference in animations and tone of voice and even dialogue that Cloud has with Tifa compared to other characters. The biggest example I see is in the framing of shots with Cloud and Tifa. In almost every time they are on screen they are framed beside each other, walking together, fighting side by side in sync with each other. Or the camera focuses on tifas reactions or then both finding a way to comfort each other. This is all in a part of the story where Tifa and Cloud was never meant to be the main focus. However with this being part 2 of 3 this amount of set up is going to lead to a lot of interesting things for part 3
