Whew! I worked on this girl all day! Almost non-stop except for the moments I had to take care of my child of course ^_^ Well, I know there's not much Tifa in Crisis Core, but from what I saw of her was just sweet. It's hard to explain, but she kept sending Zack little e-mails on his phone and it was just cute the way she was trying to be discreet about her feelings for Cloud. I also liked seeing her done up in this little get-up xD Tifa's a doll. If they remake FFVII, I look forward to her character. While it annoyed me in FVII, it didn't at all in CC. I think it was possibly just reading text and the way you read the text, not to mention you couldn't see emotions, they were just block characters, etc...but yeah. ANYWAY, now for my explanation about Clerith/Clifa.

Now, when Cloud and Aerith first meet and they go on the journey together, blah blah blah, I really do feel that Cloud and Aerith had feelings for each other. I think Aerith *did* see the Zack in Cloud, but she also started to see Cloud for who he was. She told him that it was different and that things were different during their date, remember? I don't think Aerith just loved Cloud for the Zack in him either. I also think that Cloud realized his feelings for Aerith a bit too late, and she died before he could tell her how he felt. I think he'd planned to be honest with her on that alter before Sephiroth tried to manipulate his mind and use him to try and kill Aerith. You saw the way they looked at each other in the game. There were also moments throughout the game where Cloud pined for Aerith, especially at the end. His excitement about meeting her at the Promised Land, but never finding it...the hand reaching scene and the disappointment on his face when he saw it was only Tifa's hand. I think he'd hoped for it to be Aerith's hand and it wasn't.

ANYWAY, as for the Clifa/Cloti side of my feelings. I think everything fell into place for him after he received Aerith's forgiveness and realized that he wasn't alone. Cloud began realizing he does have people who love him and care about him, aka Tifa, Marlene, Denzel, Barret, etc...

Anyway, point I'm trying to make is, yes, Cloud did love Aerith. I think he'll always love Aerith, but he also had a childhood crush on Tifa and I believe he's grown to love Tifa after the events in AC. That's how I feel about it all and I view Cloud and Tifa as a couple now. *wipes brow* phew. Alrighty then. Now that that's over, bask in cowgirl Tifa and all her glory!