Well, he never says that, and he only finds out the story about him and Zack escaping and Zack saving him WELL AFTER Aerith Shishkebabing.
Tifa loves Cloud since childhood so she deserves him more than any woman in this story. We pretty much have Team Tifa and Team Aerith/Aeris. Aerith sees a little bit of Zack in Cloud.
aerith gainsborough zack fair cloud strife lifestream trio AU ff7 ffvii ffviir ff7r final fantasy final fantasy 7 final fantasy vii fanart doodle sketch final fantasy fanart Zack, bien qu'ayant réussit à repousser une bonne partie des miliciens de la Shinra, était blessé et épuisé. I agree, I mean Aerith and Zack were really beginning to develop a deep relationship that was special to both of them, as seen by the fact that Zack sent his parents that letter about actually having a girlfriend. Despite that she got really curious about Cloud, because of how similar he was to Zack, same way to meet, same sword, similar clothes and a similar attitude. Through Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo– the titular Advent Children– Sephiroth has three successors desperate to literally become him. He is first mentioned by name in Gongaga, his hometown, where his parents are oblivious as to what became of him after he left to join SOLDIER, and are worried for his safety after not hearing from him for years. This is the thing that breaks out huge arguments amongst most of my mutual FFVII friends.
Il fut tué au sommet d'une falaise non loin de Midgar. But the 25th Anniversary Ultimania debunks that crazy theory. It is at this point that Aerith explains Zack was her first love.
エアリス、貞操の危機! Then cloud meets Aerith.
So my vote is for Tifa. Aerith dies and I think Cloud develops (maybe renews is a better word) his feelings for Tifa. My own personal comfort AU is where Aerith, Zack and Cloud are all childhood best friends and they go on little adventures together. Ofc she loved Zack so she will be interested in Cloud somehow seeing he seemed like Zack… Here is the thing, Aerith just see Cloud as a replacement for Zack and when she died she chose to be with Zack instead of waiting for Cloud to die. Another thing it's if Aerith did find out about Zack's death: we don't know. Everything was tragically cut short by Zack's "disappearance". Zack et Cloud finirent par réussir à s'échapper de Nibelheim et partirent pour Midgar, où Zack espérait retrouver Aerith, malheureusement pour eux, ils furent traqués comme des criminels. Zack is her real great love. For a long time I've had to deal with people saying Aerith is a prostitute, and as ridiculous as that theory is, people actually believe it to be true. Zack's original plan was to take care of Cloud in Sector 5, where Aerith was. Zack dies. Was Zack and Aerith's relationship romantic or platonic? Zack loved Aerith. With Cloud and Aerith we have the KH universe where they are shown as a couple in the credits with all of the other couples, countless references to Cloud and Aerith being lovers, Cloud and Aerith being Emperor and Empress of FF (a married couple), them being placed together with other canon FF couples (this isn't randomly done either). Like Zack and Aerith, Sephiroth quickly earned his status as one of gaming’s all time great villains. If Zack is with Cloud all the way into Midgar, it doesn't give Tifa the chance to find Cloud at the Sector 7 station. I would really love to see more of Aerith being clueless about Zack's death, just makes it more heartbreaking. While I'm in Team Tifa, it's only because of what others have explained already in the thread in terms of Cloud's character development and going from the "Zack-Cloud" Blend to a more pure form Cloud. Cloud is nothing but back up substitute for Zack.
Yes, they weren't ever intimate, but that's because they hadn't reached that stage in the relationship yet. Aerith loved Zack and is probably still loving him in FFVII. Zack had only a small role in the original Final Fantasy VII.
I like to think Cloud felt some feelings for Aerith in return.