The relationship between Cloud and Aeris to me is nothing romantic, espcieally on Cloud's part. Aeris DOES care for Cloud. That's obvious enough, possibly because she deeply misses her boyfriend and Cloud reminds her of him. However, seeing that her boyfriend was ZACK, and Cloud believes that he is Zack based on what he knows about Zack's personality rather than his love interests, it's understandable that she would want to grow to love Cloud. But if that was to happen, you'll have to think of what would happen to Cloud. You really have to think of what trouble that would bring Cloud. He would be living a lie, becoming somebody that he was not. And if Sephiroth had told him then, he would've really been messed up. He would've been in a really bad bind that I think it would take everything Tifa had to fix him up in the Lifestream. So to say, if he was with Aeris, his mind and life would be living a lie and pretending to be somebody he is not. So in short, they only thing special the two has is a bond of friendship.

That friendship was something special though. I mean it had to be. You think that when she died he just went "Oh well, moving on!" just like that? That stuff just doesn't happen. You don't watch somebody die, have to be the one to carry her into the water and let her sink away from you and just not care anymore. Aeris was a dear friend and fellow party member to Cloud and the others, and her loss was terrible for them. Cloud did care for her, espcieally enough to feel emotion and pain over her death. But I doubt that it made him a cold and dark character. He himself said that he had to move on and carry on, even when offered the choice to stop. I think that if Cloud took Aeris's place at the alter and he had to die, Aeris would have done the same thing. It might have hurt her more then it had hurt Cloud, being a very emotional character, but she wouldn't give up. She even told Tifa at the train graveyard to never give up hope and to keep going.

Asside from that, Aeris's storyline never really revolved around the love she had for Cloud. I'm not saying that it wasn't there or wasn't a part of her character, but that wasn't her main purpose in this game. Her storyline is that of a woman who's the last of her kind, struggling with new friends to learn of her ancient race and to find a way to destroy a threat to the already dying world. Cloud has a similar storyline, that in which he tries to find himself, his true self, and then group together with old and new friends to bring down the threat to the planet. I would have to say that these two may have similarities in their goals, but personality-wise, the two would never click. Aeris's heart is devoted towards the man she lost, and when she saw a fragment of that man in Cloud, she wanted to know more about him. Aeris noticed that Cloud didn't have the flirty lady's man nature Zack did, and realized that there was something more to Cloud. Something unknown that she couldn't figure out, which is why she wanted to meet him. And she never got the chance to, 'cause from the moment they met up 'till the moment she died, he was still somebody he wasn't. So Aeris and Cloud wouldn't pair up together because Cloud isn't Zack and Aeris couldn't exactly find the real Cloud.

Cloud and Aeris may have had friendship, and a very deep friendship. Although in Advent Children it seems like they'll have a spiritual bond where she'll continue to give him hope and some strength to carry on and save the world, but in Final Fantasy VII, they didn't have that type of "Even though you're dead I'll always love you and I'll do anything to see you again!" thing. Because if you look at it that way, that's very selfish, even to think about it. Do you really think that Aeris would want Cloud to kill himself just to see her again? Do you think that she would be happy that he would live his life in grief and pain over her? Cloud isn't obsessed, suicidal, or ignorant enough to do that. He may be a bit messed up but he's not that crazy. And if he was and Aeris let him hurt himself like that, do you think that THAT's love? Do you think it's love that Aeris would be happy that Cloud's hurting himself just to be with her? It would be very selfish on her part and even more selfish for Cloud that he would put her through that, espcieally if he did care for her.

Before I start going in circles, I'll just stop here. I hope I made some points. But just a little something extra, I'll be honest when I say that I don't blame Aeris for wanting to be with Cloud or trying to get between Cloud and Tifa. It doesn't make her a bad person at all. She wanted to get to know him better because although he did remind her of Zack, she wanted to know more about him as a person. Aeris did what any other girl in the real life would do when two girls are competing for a guy. It's perfectly natural, and throughout the game, it's obvious that it wasn't her intention to be rude towards Tifa while she flirted with Cloud. Tifa might have taken a few things the wrong way, which is expected, but nonetheless, you can't really blame Aeris for her actions, and you have to respect the fact that she was still trying to be friendly with Tifa during the whole thing.

That's all.

Cloud and Aeris's storylines cross though because of one person. And that one person is Zack. As stated, Zack was Aeris's boyfriend and she has a deep love for him. One day he left her and he never returned, and it obviously broke her heart because she suspected that he had probably either died or met another woman (she states that he was a lady's man). I believe that Aeris's true love and devotion rested in her memories of Zack, which is why she wanted to be around Cloud so much. She was bouncy and flirty around him because that's how she was to Zack, and she believed that it would have the same effect on Cloud. However, she notices that the effect is different, 'cause Cloud never seems to share the same feelings towards her, giving her the cold shoulder from time to time, and saying not-so-nice things to her on the date. After fully realizing that he isn't exactly like Zack, but noticing that she still wanted to be around him because he reminded her so much of him, she told him on the Gondala, "I want to meet you". It obviously means that she wants to know the real Cloud rather then the Cloud that reminds her of Zack.  Aeris noticed that Cloud didn't have the flirty lady's man nature Zack did, and realized that there was something more to Cloud.

Aeris was obviously somebody important to Zack. He went through so much hell with Cloud for five years. He fought in a war, was betrayed by a trusted partner, and then right when it couldn't get any worse, he and Cloud are taken into an underground lab and experimented on. They were treated like lab mice rather then human beings. And when he had his chance to escape with Cloud, the first place he was going was Midgar, and the first place that came to mind was Aeris's house. What Aeris said about him was obviously false from there. He hadn't forgotten about her, even after all this time. He still cared for her and wanted to see her again. And sadly, that never happened. Zack gave his life to protect Cloud and never had the chance to see Aeris or live his life as a mercenary. It's almost similar to how Aeris died while praying for holy. They both made sacrifices to protect the people they cared for, and even after so long, they still never forgot about each other. If that isn't loyalty then I don't know what is. If that isn't devotion then what is?

Zack and Aeris had so many similarities. They were both pretty flirtatious, they went through so much hell together, they sacrificed themselves for the lives of the people they cared for, and they still never forgot about each other. That is romance. That is the beauty of their romance. If Zack hadn't returned to the planet when he died, I would have really loved to see him in Advent Children in the Promised Land with Aeris. I guess we'll have to wait until the movie comes out. But until then, I still see this couple as one of the beautiful couples in Final Fantasy and it'll remain one of my favorites.