Anyway, by the time the actual Gold Saucer date came along, they were actually friends and they'd been through enough that he wasn't so much of a dick, so it's doubtful he was still holding her to it. Certainly they'd all watched each other's backs plenty by then. In any sense of fairness, she'd repaid him.
First, I'm not disputing they were friends by actual date-time. I don't believe I ever said otherwise.
Second, NO FUCK NO! So, according to you, Cloud (if not for the date payment) what, would have left Aeris at the mercy of the Turks, guys he calls murderers and assassins? Really? The date wasn't his motivator, dude. It's Aeris', but it's not Cloud's.
He leaves her behind because Elmyra asks him to. He intended to wait until the next day and let Aerith escort him to Sector 7. No point in making trouble for himself when the chick's mom is in the mix.
Aeris: "So, what are you going to do now?"
Cloud: "...Is Sector 7 far from here?
I want to go to Tifa's bar."
--
Aeris: " I'll show youthe way"
Cloud : "
You gotta be kidding. Why do you want to put yourself in danger
again?"
He says he's off to Tifa's, having completed what she asked him: to bring her home. He doesn't expect to see her again after this. He clearly intends to drop her off and go on alone. He doesn't take the date seriously. It is Aeris who insists because she wants to keep him as her bodyguard beyond his original duty: Getting her out of the church and back home, which is literally what she asked him to do. She would not have been half as insistent had she had any confidence in seeing him again.
I believe your reading does not take into account Aeris' determination and persistence to follow a stranger, even against his wishes, into totally dangerous territory. This is not some woman desperate for dick and I doubt she follows every guy she is attracted to around like that. It is his likeness to Zack that draws her and that's why she basically stalks the guy. She KNOWS she will never see him again.
And even after she shows him the way, he is all like "well, Aeris, thanks and all but I guess this is goodbye". And then he tells her to go home again (what? sans bodyguard?) after he sees Tifa, insisting to go on alone.
Come on.
Anyway, I'm not disputing Aeris being an attractive female or Cloud recognizing that, I'm just not buying that he actively wanted to pursue her & that the date payment is an indication of that.
I do believe that some of the scenes and even the Date mechanics can be explained through this. The more involved Aerith was with the player, optional interactions included, the more impact she had when she left us.
Absolutely. The point is to get involved in her quest to get Cloud. That's why she's pursuing Cloud as hard as she is. Contrast this with Tifa, who is waiting for Cloud to do the pursuing. Player choice has huge role when it comes to C/A romance and that's why you struggle to find moments or actions that are outright romantic outside player control. I firmly believe the intent was for the player to become involved in CREATING a love story and Aeris' flirty, fun-loving personality no doubt facilitated this.
Honestly, I'd attribute that to her ability of reading minds and memories, and to her copying abilities. Only Cloud's S-Cells are totally doing that subcounsciously.
Cloud reacted somewhat the way people would imagine him reacting and being, which is why he sorta created that personality for Tifa from her thoughts and memories and probably why he laughed with Aeris. .
Also, I wanted to add that Wolfmania got where I was going, even if I admit that my last paragraph may have been somewhat confusing/not elaborative. 
/for once i'd like to get everything i want to say in one go, w/o editing forever.
The whole situation is complicated, which makes it interesting to think about and discuss. I tend to think that once his personalities merged that his feeling likely became muddled, merging into something unique and, while he'll always care for Aerith, I'm not convinced Real!Cloud's feeling for Aerith are romantic.
