(I know this is a few days old, but oh well. Some posts here were made between a few days's time. I just feel like saying what I feel.)

This is one of those threads that I read after I post because I feel that I have to throw in my two cents first. Sorry if my post annoys anyone.

I think that, if he really liked Aerith/Aeris (whichever one you prefer), since she is dead, Cloud's path is clear. It's obivous that he likes Tifa, and that she likes him back. But, regardless of whether he really liked her or not, he can't quite let go of Aeris/Aerith because, even if he didn't like her, the guilt of "letting" her die is haunting him, and he feels that marrying Tifa could simply get her killed. He said in AC that he wasn't fit to help anybody, which I'm guessing means that he's not a protector, the key words being "not" and "protector". That's why I'm taking it that he's afraid he wouldn't be able to protect Tifa. So that, combined with his guilt, makes a reason, in his eyes, to not marry her. That's why they act as a family, but they both know that they're not a TRUE family. His feelings for her are shown when he thinks she's dead in his "home". He thinks he's failed again, and that his love is going to die. I haven't seen the Japanese version, but, in the English version, it sounds as if he's choking on her name. And her line "Or does that only work for REAL families" suggests that they WANT to be a family, but Cloud's just too confused to marry her. They live in the same place (even if he's not always there), and they've adopted two kids. And, as someone else here said, at the end of AC, the look that they give each other seems to suggest that, since he's no longer confused, he can do what he's been wanting to do------Start a life with Tifa. I mean, people could go around saying that they're not a couple and that they won't be, but you can't ignore the fact that they live in the same house, they've adopted two kids, and there are references to them being a a family that's lacking one thing to becoming a true family: Marriage. Cloud worries about Tifa, and she worries about him in turn. She tries to pull him through things (the "true family" reference here is her question), Cloud says that he's not fit to help anyone, etc, etc. But that's exactly what it means. He's not fit to help anyone. That's what he feels. That doesn't mean anything about him not wanting to marry her. They show every sign of a family, and every sign of a relationship that they want to have but simply can't take past friendship because Cloud is afraid of what will happen. The looks. the phrases. The living quarters. Everything points towards this.