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In Remake, in Tifa's Resolution, Tifa approaches Cloud for comfort, and after a while, he reciprocates and hugs her.

Let it be known that, throughout the entirety of Remake, Tifa is literally the only one with whom Cloud shares a hug. Yes, Tifa had to initiate the physical contact, but it doesn't change the fact that Cloud never shares a hug with anyone else in the game.

However, in Rebirth, if Tifa is Cloud's date during the second Gold Saucer visit:

During the Loveless play, Cloud pulls Tifa towards him and touches her waist as he spins her.

During the Skywheel date, Cloud initiates a hug with Tifa, in both the Low Affinity and High Affinity versions.

And, if it's the High Affinity version of the date, after the hug, Cloud initiates a kiss with Tifa.

Let it be known that, during the Loveless play, between the 3 female party members, Tifa is literally the only one whom Cloud pulls towards him, and Tifa is literally the only whom Cloud touches as he spins her. (Video source)

Let it be known that, out of all the possible date options in the Skywheel, in all of the Low Affinity and High Affinity versions of each and every single date, Tifa is literally the only one with whom Cloud initiates a hug, and, most significantly, Tifa is literally the only one with whom Cloud initiates a kiss. (Video source)

Now, remember that the entire Final Fantasy franchise is a JRPG. This is a franchise made in Japan, a country in the Eastern hemisphere. Back in 1997 (when the OG FFVII was released) and even today, in Eastern countries like Japan, public displays of affection are still taboo. So, if a kiss ever does occur in an anime or video game, especially if it's aimed for teenaged males, the kiss will only happen once (this is not always the case, but it is still the norm, even today), it will only happen between a canon couple, and it will be treated with the utmost significance.

Most notably, throughout the entire Final Fantasy franchise, the only pairings that have ever shared an on-screen kiss have been canon couples. (Video source)

As you can see in the provided video, all of those Final Fantasy pairings that have kissed on-screen before Cloti are canon couples:

Cecil/Rosa ─ FFIV (1991)

Squall/Rinoa ─ FFVIII (1999)

Tidus/Yuna ─ FFX (2001)

Rasler/Ashe ─ FFXII (2006)

Snow/Serah ─ FFXIII (2009)

Noctis/Lunafreya ─ FFXV (2016)

Terence/Dion & Clive/Jill ─ FFXVI (2023)

Now, by the end of Rebirth, Cloti is still not a canon couple. The Gold Saucer date in Rebirth is mandatory; it's just that who becomes Cloud's date depends on how well the player has treated the other party members. However, no matter who ends up being Cloud's date, there are still no canon couples at the end of Rebirth.

But, remember, the Lifestream event (where Tifa pieces Real Cloud's mind back together, and Real Cloud's POV of the Nibelheim incident is shown) and the Highwind scene (where Cloti makes love under the Highwind) from the OG game have not been covered yet.

Most likely ─ particularly due to the importance of the Lifestream event (not just within the game, but based on what the game's creators have said in the FF7 10th Anniversary Ultimania and 25th Memorial Ultimania) ─ both scenes are being saved for Part 3.

For the time being, as of now, only theories can be made about what will happen to Cloti in Part 3 ─ such as how different the Lifestream event will be, now that a somewhat similar event has already happened with Tifa at the Gongaga reactor in Rebirth; if the High Affinity version of the Highwind scene will be the only one used; if more nods to Trace of Two Pasts and the new 2000 Gil to Becoming a Hero will be referenced, etc.

But...

Because out of all the possible Skywheel dates, Tifa is literally the only one with whom Cloud shares a kiss. And in a video game franchise that's geared towards teenaged males like Final Fantasy, only canon couples have ever shared an on-screen kiss ─ as early as FFIV (1991) to as late as FFXVI (2023), the latter of which was released just 1 year before Rebirth. The fact that Cloti has already shared an on-screen kiss, after all those canon couples, may foreshadow them becoming a canon couple in Part 3.

This is emphasized by the fact that Kazushige Nojima, the head writer of the Remake trilogy, also wrote Trace of Two Pasts and 2000 Gil to Becoming a Hero (which, as of now, can only be found in the FF7 Rebirth World Preview, which hasn't had any official translations yet).

In TOTP, Cloti is established as having been childhood friends up until they were 7 and 8 (it's heavily implied that Tifa's father didn't approve of their relationship and, off-screen, he threatened Cloud to stay away from her, even before the Mt. Nibel bridge incident). Tifa didn't know how she felt about Cloud initially because he was "a beautiful, untouchable presence," but she realized she is in love with him after their promise; read the quote below. (Sadly, because Nojima used "suki", SENA translated "suki" to "like", since, admittedly, "suki" can be both "like" and "love". If only Nojima had used "daisuki"...) (Source)

"But once the promise was sealed, it seemed to her a thing of singular importance. She'd discovered that Cloud ─ the quiet neighbor who had always seemed as unreachable as the stars ─ was just a normal boy like any other. She'd come to understand that she did like him. And it was that special kind of "like" ─ the one that ties up your heart, making you yearn to be with that person for the rest of your days." (Source: Official English translation, "Traces of Tifa", page 25 ─ Amazon Kindle Edition)

In 2000 Gil, during Cloud's journey to Midgar to become a SOLDIER when he was 14, it's reaffirmed, from the OG game, that the only reason why Cloud wanted to be a SOLDIER in the first place is because of Tifa. (Source)

"This was something he wanted to do of his own free will. He would do whatever it took to become a SOLDIER. If there was a path, he would try to walk down it. If there was a door, he would try to open it. Because didn't he promise Tifa? Of his own free will, he had decided to become an exceptional man. To become a SOLDIER, a hero, and a special existence to Tifa."

Again, Nojima is the head writer of the Remake trilogy, and he also wrote TOTP and 2000 Gil. Therefore, what Nojima writes is 100% canon.

Why would Nojima go through all the trouble of writing that: (1) Cloti has a hug in Remake; (2) Cloti were childhood friends after all and Tifa fell in love with him in TOTP; (3) Cloud's desire to become a SOLDIER solely for Tifa is reiterated from the OG game in 2000 Gil; (4) the entirely new Gongaga reactor scene was added in Rebirth, where (a) Cloud becomes catatonic after Sephiroth gaslit him into attacking Tifa, stays in her room alone as she sleeps, and doesn't fully recover until she wakes up the next day, and (b) Tifa discovers the truth about what happened during the Mt. Nibel bridge incident; (5) Cloti nearly kiss after the events of #4 in Rebirth; and (6) Cloti has a kiss in Rebirth? (For #6, remember that only canon couples in Final Fantasy have ever shared an on-screen kiss up until Cloti in Rebirth.) Why?

It's actually really damn obvious why. Because, as I said earlier, it may foreshadow that Cloti will become a canon couple in Part 3.

NOTE 1: I keep saying "may foreshadow", because, officially, as of now, we don't know what's going to happen in Part 3. We have to wait until 2027 ─ 3 more years ─ for Part 3 to be released and find out what will happen.

NOTE 2: I know that some people may wonder why I'm not referring to Cloti as being already canon.

Let me explain.

I first played the OG FFVII when I was 11. I'll be honest, I had just hit puberty, so I didn't care about shipping at the time. However, even as an 11-year-old girl, as soon as I got to Sector 7 and Tifa was introduced as Cloud's childhood friend, I knew that Cloti was going to be canon by the end of the game. Even before Aerith was killed and the so-called "love triangle" was officially killed along with her, as soon as it was established in Sector 7 that Cloti had known each other since they were children, I knew that Cloti was going to be canon.

If anything, I think that FFVII made me start shipping in general. And I think Cloti was my very first ship. (I say "I think" because I don't remember how my 11-year-old brain worked. I did also ship Haku/Chihiro from Spirited Away and Syaoran/Sakura from Cardcaptor Sakura around the same time as when I first played FFVII, so I think all 3 of them are collectively my very first ships.)

Also, I know that the various Ultimanias have (1) stated that Cloti realized they were in love with each other after the Lifestream event, and (2) shown screenshots of the High Affinity version of the Highwind scene and not the Low Affinity version.

However, here's the problem, which I know has been complained about here on Tumblr and other sites: the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII screwed everything up, especially Advent Children.

AC establishes that Cloti lives together with Marlene and Denzel, but they're never actually stated to be a couple in the film, and their interactions, for most of it, are depressing AF. I remember how heartwrenching it was when Tifa lamented that they were "not a real family." This frustrated me as a teenager in the mid-2000s.

Now, remember that, in the mid-2000s, the Internet was nowhere near as ubiquitous as it is today. Any Final Fantasy-related Ultimanias were not available outside of Japan, not even fan translations. Therefore, I had no idea that the AC Reunion Files ─ where Tetsuya Nomura describes Tifa as being "a sweetheart", which is translated from the word "koibito" ─ existed at the time.

Then, in Dirge of Cerberus, in which Cloti briefly appears with Barret, they're only actually shown together once.

After AC and DOC felt like huge letdowns for me regarding Cloti, along with me entering high school around that same time, I lost interest in shipping in general for over a decade. In terms of Final Fantasy shipping, it was because, even though I saw that Cloti was a couple by the end of FFVII, Square jerked us around because they prevaricated over Cloti's canon status in the Compilation. Nowadays, I can't remember how my teenaged mind worked, so, at best, I think I can say that I never stopped shipping Cloti; I just didn't partake in exploring it or any of my other ships in general for over a decade.

TL;DR ─ If the Compilation didn't exist, I wouldn't have had any reason to doubt Cloti's canon status in the mid-2000s. I never doubted the beauty of Cloti itself; it's just that the Compilation made me feel disheartened over their canon status.

Now, I'm aware that Crisis Core ─ which reiterates Cloti's feelings for each other ─ was released 1 year after DOC. However, I'll admit, because I put FFVII out of my mind for over a decade, I didn't even know that CC existed until literally last year (yes, 2023). When I finally discovered it by stumbling upon its fan-translated cutscenes, I liked it. It's one of the only things I like in the Compilation.

But…

What truly revitalized my interest in Cloti again, after I got back into Final Fantasy recently, was hearing about a leak, pre-release, that Cloti shares a kiss in Rebirth. And then, post-release, I saw that Cloud initiating a kiss with Tifa in Rebirth blew up all over social media and YouTube.

Then, my interest in the Remake trilogy (yes, 4 years after Remake came out) and its supplemental material like TOTP was piqued. I have the official English translation of TOTP through Amazon Kindle. I now own a PS4 and have played Remake, using the Japanese voices and English version subtitles. But, for the time being, I can't play Rebirth because I don't own a PS5. Everything regarding Rebirth, I've had to learn about either through spoilers on social media or YouTube.

Then, I saw that Crisis Core had an updated re-release in 2022 called Reunion, with the UI and character models resembling the Remake designs.

Now, remember that Crisis Core Reunion ─ with its usage of Remake's UI and character models ─ still shows what really happened at the Nibelheim incident (or, rather, how Zack thinks it happened). Also, while some of the dialogue changed, the Cloti scenes did not: Tifa still subtly asks Zack if Cloud is also a 1st Class SOLDIER; Tifa still sends emails to Zack about a blond SOLDIER/blond knight in shining armor; Cloud still tries to protect Tifa, even though he's just a grunt; Cloud is still ashamed that he didn't become a SOLDIER, and thinks that he didn't keep his promise to Tifa by failing to protect her; Zack still senses that something's going on between Cloti; Cloud still caresses the unconscious Tifa's cheek; and Cloud still lays Tifa down on the floor gently before he fights Sephiroth.

Now, also remember that the Lifestream event ─ which, again, among other things, shows the Real Cloud's POV of the Nibelheim incident ─ has not been covered yet.

Yep, all of the above got me excited for Cloti again, for the first time in a long time.

Also, as I said earlier, given that Nojima is consistent in his writing thus far in Remake, TOTP, 2000 Gil, and Rebirth ─ particularly for Cloti ─ I have hopes for Part 3, and that, afterwards, Square will finally state that Cloti is canon and then never ever touch them again.

(End my extremely long explanation for NOTE 2.)

me @ 10