I posted a rant on this in another thread: http://www.eyesonff.com/forums/showp...7&postcount=44

So yeah, I see a whole lotta nothing when it comes to romance. There are a lot of emotional moments, but not what I'd consider indications of love. Just because emotional moments happen between a guy and girl doesn't mean it's love.

Scene examples: When Cloud finds Tifa in Aeris' church in the movie... His reaction doesn't seem like that of someone who loves her.

When Cloud comes back from the Ancient City to find a battle going on, he barely even looks at Tifa, let alone asks if she's ok.

When Cloud is "revived" near the end in Aeris' church, he doesn't only look at Tifa when he says "I'm home.", he's looking at everyone.

Some people speculated that the ribbons that Tifa and Cloud wear signify a bond, but you can see in the Bahamut fight that everyone wears them too.

"square can't make an official "relationship" because fans, for it or against it, will whine about it endlessly"

And why not? Square makes obvious couples in TONS of games, like, y'know, all of them except FF7. A lot of people think that Quistis and Squall would've made a better couple, but Square didn't leave it open in that game. Why would they care now? in fact, if Tifa and Cloud were meant to be together, why wouldn't they have made it for sure? Aeris is dead. It's not like her fans have any reason to think they could/should be together, it's impossible. The game is made open ended because there just isn't a definitive couple in FF7. I don't think it's Square using subtlety, I think their romantic relationship is nonexistant. And I like it that way. For once, a game without a mushy mushy couple.

"Since Aeris left together with Zack, I like to think they got together in the Lifestream."

Or they were both there to check on Cloud, since they're both his good friends.

"Just see the loving look in Tifa's eyes when she's looking at Cloud. There Cloud is also looking at Tifa at that point and smiling."

Cloud never returns that look. I just rewatched the movie. He's looking at everyone. At one point they make eye contact, but that's because she's the only one looking directly at him. How many people does Cloud look at like that in that scene? You're seeing what you want to see.

"Its obvious. It shows u in the begging. When she awnsers the phone, she says "Hello, this is the strife delivery service." Also, u see a photo of her, cloud, denzel and marlene. Bit obvious now aint it"

Because they have a business together? Or because Denzel is around? That's like saying Tifa and Barret were together in the game because of Tifa's bar and Marlene. It's pure fan-wishing. I think it's pretty natural for them to be around each other a lot since they've known each other the longest. Think about it, who else would he live with? I still don't think it means he loves her.

In the movie and the game Cloud has a lot of "flashback" moments, and most of them are about Aeris, not Tifa. I stick with that he has a special bond with both of them, but he's not in love with either.