Quote Originally Posted by Sephiroth View Post
Quote Originally Posted by Skyblade View Post
I still feel people get Aerith's relationship with Cloud completely wrong. I don't think it was romantic or flirting really at all. She sees his facade, and wants to tear it down. She doesn't love him because she doesn't know him. She sees that he's broken, that his mind is warped and shattered, and she tries to fix it. That's why she's constantly digging at his personal life, or trying to get him into a position where she can talk to him seriously and in private.

She know's something's up with him, from very early in the game. She's constantly questioning his thoughts and making him rethink his facade. And isn't she the voice that causes him to question himself at the inns and the other rest times?

She's an Ancient. She knows that something's wrong with Cloud, and she has an urge to fix it. She also has an instinctual knowledge of the Lifestream and the afterlife, so she knows her own love is waiting for her there, and she can still go meet him.
While she misses Zack, she also wants to meet the real Cloud and really is interested in him. The heart-breaking crying scene in Gongaga shows that.
"Wants to meet him" indicates that she is not in love with him. She senses the massive delusion that he's hiding under, she knows that the Zack persona he's presenting is not the real Cloud. You don't love someone you don't know.

She's interested in the real Cloud, sure, but what sort of interest? I don't think it's romantic, because the real Cloud is a mystery to her. Part of her is just the friendly, nice, outgoing person she is, but I think most of her feelings are more motherly. She's worried about the poor child with the skinned knee (or, in this case, the shattered mind).