At the end of disc 2 in Final Fantasy VII, Cloud asks his party members to leave, go home, and find out what it is they are really fighting for prior to the final showdown with Sephiroth. With a Meteor tearing through the sky, and a demi-god of an enemy at the helm, they all might die, so they will have to find their resolve to embark on the final, possibly fatal, mission. Each party member returns home, except for Cloud and Tifa – who, inconveniently enough, don’t have a home any longer. They decide to wait together and hope the others return.
What happens while they are waiting has long been a fan favorite scene – albeit a contentious one.
Depending on the affection points the player has scored with Tifa, one of two possible scenes will play. In both versions, they will chat about how everyone has something irreplaceable giving them strength to fight. Tifa will start to bare her feelings toward Cloud.
In the low-affection version, Cloud will cut the conversation short, telling Tifa they need to rest up before tomorrow.
In the high-affection version, Cloud will stumble over his words, saying that there are things he wants to tell Tifa but doesn’t know how. Tifa will utter her famous line, “Cloud… Words aren’t the only thing that tell people what you’re thinking.”
Either way, the scene fades to black. The curtains briefly open to show a scene at dawn where Tifa is resting her head against Cloud’s shoulder. Cloud is sitting up, but we imagine they’ve been sleeping. Then another black-out ensues before the pair return to the Highwind.
When the other party members reveal their presence, Tifa will get embarrassed. If the player has achieved the low-affection version of the scene, she will ask “Were you listening?” In the high-affection version, she will ask “Were you watching?” In either case, Cloud will awkwardly scratch his head before the conversation carries on.
Needless to say, matching Tifa’s line about words not being the only way to express feelings, and her embarrassed reaction (“are you watching?”), the player is left to wonder if something intimate took place. Her reaction is played off as humorous.
As everyone returns and is accounted for, Cloud will share sentiments of Aeris and a desire to unleash the frozen hope she left behind, before the sequence wraps to a conclusion and the player regains control.
So, did Cloud and Tifa have sex?
Anyone can fill into the lines when scenes fade to black, and Tifa’s reaction states that something occurred to which she is embarrassed that others may have witnessed.
Is it canon that Cloud and Tifa had sex? Absolutely not.
Ultimania Omega dives into this scene and solves this messy mystery.
After that, we see both conversation options. (High affection is represented by “B”, and Low affection is represented by “C”.) Even after Tifa’s line about words not being the only way to express feelings, both conversations lead to the same event:
寄り添い、眠りにつくふたり。夜明けを前に、クラウドが目覚める。
Final Fantasy VII Ultimania Omega, page 201
The two nestle up together and fall asleep. Cloud wakes up before dawn.
They “nestled up” (that is, Tifa rested her head on Cloud’s shoulder, as shown) and slept. Knowing Tifa’s easily-embarrassed character, this would certainly be enough for her to feel bashful if others were watching – especially if she was being emotionally vulnerable. Since both conversations have the same event, including the low-affection version, it is unlikely anything physically intimate could happen.
To stress – all that is canon is that Cloud and Tifa snuggled up together and slept.
Between a platonic scenario and a pornographic scene, there’s countless possibilities in between “friendly” and “intimate.” Perhaps they shared a kiss. Perhaps they sat there in comfortable silence before closing their eyes together. If anything intimate happened, that’s left for fans to imagine for themselves.
And to be clear, it does take quite a bit of imagination to jump to something sexual. Someone as shy as Tifa and someone as awkward as Cloud banging naked outside on the ground requires serious suspension of disbelief. Sharing a kiss could be an easier theory to swallow, but fans going straight to something so M-rated demonstrates the fandom’s blurred lines between fanfiction and reality.
Affection Points and Two Possible Scenes
It should also be emphasized that there are two potential versions of this scene. In the case of a low-affection Highwind scene, there just isn’t any possibility that anything intimate happened. Neither scene is easier to get than the other, thus neither is the game’s default.
To get the high-affection scene with Tifa, you need to have her affection score at 50. She starts at 30 points, and the various choices Cloud makes throughout disc one can either increase or decrease her score. While it may be enough for Cloud to get her above 50 just by treating her with kindness, many opportunities Cloud has to be kind to (or express interest in) other girls cause Tifa’s rating to go down. For instance:
When Jessie is talking to Cloud on the train after the first bombing mission:- “Thanks anyway” (No change)
- “Looking forward to it” (-3 Tifa)
When Marlene asks if Cloud thinks Aeris is interested in him:- “I don’t know” (+3 Tifa, -3 Aeris)
- “Let’s hope so” (-3 Tifa, +3 Aeris)
Upon rescuing Aeris, when asking either Tifa or Barret to take care of Aeris:- “Tifa, I’m countin’ on you!” (-2 Tifa)
- “Barret, take care of her!” (+2 Barret)
On the first visit to Gold Saucer, when a party member is chosen to accompany Cloud:- [If Aeris, Red XIII, or Yuffie are chosen to accompany Cloud] (-2 Tifa)
Assuming Cloud canonically wouldn’t act pro-Shinra or deliberately cruel to random NPCs, Tifa should generally gain affection in a normal playthrough – but only if you interact with her and include her in your party. If she isn’t in your party, you miss out on necessary affection points to get her to 50.
Thus, the average player is equally unlikely as they are likely to get Tifa’s high-affection Highwind scene, especially if they favor one of the other romance options (especially Aeris.) If this scene were intended to be so significant, there shouldn’t be two versions of the scene at all.
Guidebook Scenario Descriptions
Is one particular scene “canon”? No. The official guides make it clear that two versions of the scene exist.
“After stopping Hojo from going amuck, the conversation with Tifa before they rush into the Northern Crater diverges into two conditions, according to Tifa’s affection rating with Cloud. When it gets low, the conversation in the scene that they spend the night will be apathetic and ends short. Next morning in the cockpit, Tifa says “Were you listening?” and stamps on tiptoe. On the other hand, when degree gets higher, the conversation of the scene that they spend the night will have strong emotions. Next morning in the cockpit, Tifa will say “Were you watching?” and feels terribly shy.”
Ultimania Omega (page 198)
Variable Event 3 (Before the decisive battle)
Another event is when the party was dismissed and after everyone left for their own places separately, Cloud and Tifa spent the night together. At that moment, according to Tifa’s affection rating with Cloud, the event of “conversation between them from dusk to dawn” and “Tifa’s reaction and lines when she found out that everyone might see (or hear) that circumstance” will be different.
Depending on your affection score, she may fall over with embarrassment.
An example of the reaction: she turns around and taps the floor with the tip of her foot.
FFVII Dismantled (page 189)
(Note that in the above example, rather than “sleep,” Dismantled says Cloud and Tifa have conversation “from dawn to dusk” – that is, they stayed up all night talking – once again, nothing about sexual intimacy.)
The conversation between Cloud and Tifa who spend the night in the grasslands before joining up with their companions on the airship changes depending on Tifa’s affection score. If her affection score is high, Cloud and Tifa’s feelings about each other are strongly expressed in the dialogue.
Ultimania Omega (page 201)
How is Tifa’s affection toward Cloud? (High / Low – branching conversation variability)
Some fans have used the Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania to “prove” that Cloti (and the high-affection Highwind scene) is canon.
First, note that both Aeris and Tifa are featured on this page. The phrase under Aeris’s date mentions that Cloud can date several partners, but if Aeris is not a love interest of Cloud’s, suitable for the phrase “For the One I Love” – why is she included on this page at all? Why not show Cloud’s date with Tifa? When this page intends specifically to showcase the romances of the protagonists, the answer is obvious: because multiple love interests exist. If Aeris is not Cloud’s genuine love interest, her presence on this page would be inappropriate.
Since Aeris gets the date, Tifa’s high-affection scene is shown under the Highwind above the claim that they exchanged feelings. Yet, the reference page noted in its own header lead you to page 232 for details. And what do those details say?
Deviation – Two versions of the conversation before the final battle
Prior to the final battle, the contents of the conversation between Cloud and Tifa can change depending on the degree of Tifa’s affection. If the degree of affection is high, the contents of the two’s conversation will involve deep subject matter and strong feelings for each other. As well, the sight of the two seen by their companions the next morning will lead to an embarrassing scene for Tifa, and she blushes greatly.”
Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary Ultimania (page 232)
Again, the variability of Tifa’s scene is confirmed. The player’s actions dictate whether or not the high-affection scene will occur, or a low-affection scene. Though the high-affection version suggests they discussed shared feelings, the low-affection scene is “apathetic and short.”
To stress once more: if the high-affection version was the only “canon” option, then two options wouldn’t exist. If Cloud is canonically meant to express romantic sentiments with Tifa and conclude the love triangle, then the fact that a low-affection version exists (and is equally likely to obtain for the average player) makes no sense.
Communicating Thoughts (“想いを通わせる”) is Not Necessarily Romantic
This phrase, usually translated as “communicating feelings”, is generally what is used in story playback sections of Ultimania guidebooks to describe the scenario between Cloud and Tifa. However, this phrase is not strictly limited to romantic connotations in Japanese. As in English, we could ask what kind of feelings are communicated.
Cloud and Tifa communicating feelings does not mean they’ve communicated romantic feelings. Even if a high-affection version can easily be read as romantic, the same isn’t true of the low-affection version. If their evening together was “apathetic and short” – then what kind of feelings have been communicated? Feelings of friendship and camaraderie, perhaps? Feelings of shared resolution for the final battle?
The moment is a significant scene of emotional bonding and decompressing together after the Lifestream sequence, as well as confirming that they will fight side-by-side come hell or high water against Sephiroth. The scene doesn’t need to be sexual or even romantic to be meaningful.
On Masato Katou and the Highwind Rumors
Rumors of the “sex scene” started in Ultimania Omega, when a creator interview revealed that Masato Katou, who penned the Highwind scene with Cloud and Tifa, initially submitted a draft that was suggestive of Cloud and Tifa having sex. The scene would have included Cloud and Tifa exiting the chocobo stable, looking bashful. This has been used as evidence that the extant scene is also sexual.
What fans don’t seem to pay as much attention to is how Kitase rejected that scene, and Nojima did not expect the line to be taken seriously.
Kitase: “The event on the airship the night before the final battle was done by Kato as well, wasn’t it.”
Nojima: “Oh, the bit with that risqué/suggestive dialogue? I wasn’t the one who wrote that, that was Kato too.“
Interviewer: “Words aren’t the only way to tell someone how you feel”, that line, right? That’s a rather mature conversation for a FF game.
Kitase: “Although I remember we had to tone down a version that was too strong.”
Nojima: “The original idea was more extreme. The plan was for Cloud to walk out of the chocobo stable in the airship, followed by Tifa leaving while she kept looking around, but Kitase rejected it. But I think perhaps no one expected that line to be so important [laughs]”
10th Anniversary Ultimania (page 9)
Nojima’s nonchalant attitude toward the famous line seems to imply that the writers didn’t think anyone would take the line so seriously as to think it implied anything “mature” or sexual. No one expected the line to be considered “important.”
Worth noting is that Masato Katou was not a lead writer. He was brought in late in development (evidently rather suddenly, too) to craft a few scenes specifically between Cloud and Tifa, which included the Lifestream sequence and the Highwind scenes. Evidently, Nomura, Kitase, Nojima, and Sakaguchi were not involved (except to reject ideas that were not appropriate.)
Final Fantasy 7 (planner, script writer – I was unexpectedly called upon to help out)..
[Listing scenes he crafted in FF7].. the village where Cloud becomes a vegetable, when he falls into the Lifestream, the episode of Cloud and Tifa on the dawn before the final battle, on all of those I wrote them to my personal tastes.. er… maybe I should learn to listen more to what other people tell me. (laughs)
Interview with Masato Katou (Procyon Studio, 1999), archived here (English) or here (Japanese)
He says he wrote the Cloud and Tifa scenes to his “personal tastes” then jokes that he should listen more to what others tell him. This might reference scenes that were flat-out rejected, and certainly implies that what he wrote might not have been what Nojima or Sakaguchi or Kitase or Nomura would have written.
All of this doesn’t negate that Cloud and Tifa’s scenes are canon, but does indicate that Katou’s own feelings and intentions as he wrote these scenes might not match the actual lead writers for the series.
This explains the lack of romantic sentiment between Cloud and Tifa demonstrated in the game’s ending – but a romantic sentiment expressed from Cloud about Aeris is canon and non-variable.
An answer from the Planet.. the Promised Land…
Cloud, FF7 ending
I think I can meet her… there.
Guidebooks Aren’t More Canon than Dev Statements of the FF7 Compilation Itself
Ultimately, guidebooks like Dismantled and the Ultimanias aren’t written directly by Final Fantasy VII’s writers and developers. While officially licensed, they are written by third-party individuals, and thus always need to be taken with a grain of salt. These guidebooks have stated relationship “proof” of Cloud’s love for both Aeris and Tifa, so cherry-picking evidence for either side of the love triangle debate is naive at best.
What the developers actually say is that the love triangle is ambiguous and open to interpretation. Claims that Ultimanias confirm Cloud and Tifa’s romantic feelings directly contradicts Nomura himself, who says he has no idea if Cloud and Tifa ever get together.
The words of the developers certainly trump any guidebook, and are a rather stark indication that anything fans think happened between Cloud and Tifa at the end of disc 2 might just be “head-canon.”
And even in a high-affection version, the post-OG official Compilation materials suggest Cloud and Tifa are not in a romantic relationship. Just look at this exchange in the “Episode: Tifa” chapter of On the Way to a Smile.
In this awkward exchange, Tifa flat-out asks Cloud if he loves her, and Cloud refuses to answer – citing a “problem” (which is later revealed to be Aeris.)
If Cloud and Tifa had sex and confirmed romantic feelings under the Highwind in Final Fantasy VII, then how is it the case that they are not in a relationship post-game, and Cloud cannot even tell Tifa he loves her? Cloud is awkward, occasionally smarmy, but not cruel.
For that matter, why do they have separate bedrooms in Advent Children? Why does he refuse to return her phone calls? Why does the series keep the love triangle alive, having Aeris call Cloud her “koibito” (lover/beloved) and express Tifa’s ongoing jealousy for Cloud’s feelings for Aeris? The answer is clear enough: regardless of what may (or may not have) happened under the Highwind, the pair don’t seem to have presently be in a relationship. The series continues to be open-ended.
So either he did share a romantic evening with Tifa on the brink of the end of the world when all but a glimmer of hope was lost, and then he refused to tell her loved her – or the special evening they shared was far more vague and did not establish any kind of romantic relationship nor commitment.
Conclusion
There is nothing wrong with shipping Cloud and Tifa. Tifa is one of the game’s two main love interests and was intentionally written with romantic subtext. Assuming Cloud and Tifa shared a romantic night isn’t a particularly wild theory.
But it is a theory nonetheless. There’s no canonical suggestion that Cloud and Tifa had sex. There’s no evidence that they are canonically in a committed relationship. After all, there are two versions of the Highwind scene, and can certainly be read as romantic, while the other cannot. There exists no scene where Cloud and Tifa kiss, romantically embrace, or exchange an I-love-you.
On the flip side, there is evidence that Nomura and the other devs prefer that the love triangle debate remain open-ended for fans to draw their own conclusions. So fans are invited to employ whatever “fanon” they like – but such fantasies shouldn’t be confused with what actually is (and isn’t) canon.
Earth & Sky: A Cloud x Aeris Love Story 
interesting read. I can’t wait to see how this will be handled in part 3 or the Re trilogy. I think they will clear this up one way or the other.
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