The Most Epic Date Ever: Remake’s Chapter 9 Entire Purpose is Building the Cloud/Aerith Romance

Chapter 9 of Final Fantasy VII Remake is the game’s longest chapter, and it serves one primary purpose: to build up the romance between Cloud and Aerith. Sounds crazy? It might be – but it’s true.

After all, the seeds have already been planted. The last chapter opened with Aerith promising Cloud “one date” in exchange for bodyguard services, and ended on Cloud dreaming of his mother recommending he date a girl just like Aerith. Chapter 9 shows the player not only these seeds beginning to sprout, it holds the camera as close as a nature documentary as they begin to blossom.

Let’s dive into this lengthy section, and look at just how packed it is with Clerith content.

Aerith’s Ambush

Cloud has been banished by Elmyra from seeing her daughter, and, used to being othered and outcast, Cloud slips away from Aerith’s home in the middle of the night. To his surprise, however, Aerith is already waiting for him at the entrance to Sector 6. Others have rejected Cloud, misunderstood him, and refused to let him into their social circles. Aerith, however, not only accepts him – she insists!

At first, Cloud tries to act cool about it and asks her why she’s there. And when she answers “I want to spend more time with you,” this is the official voice recording script:

エアリス 「もっと一緒にいたいから」

あまりにストレートな物言いにクラウド答に窮する。ダメかな?とい う視線を向けるエアリス。いじらしい感じ。沈黙、クラウド、優しい気持 ちになり、ふうと息を吐く。

Aerith: I want to spend more time with you.

Aerith’s straightforwardness puts Cloud at a loss for a response. Aerith gazes at Cloud with a look that asks, “is that okay?” It gives a charming/lovable impression. There’s a moment of silence. Cloud’s heart warms and he releases a breath.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, 108

When Aerith turns to go, Cloud has a flash of a “future memory” – the sight of Aerith walking away invokes the scene of her permanently leaving the party in the original game. This causes Cloud to cry, and his heart “skips a beat.”

The Price of Strength
Aerith ambushes Cloud at the edge of town, intimating she wants to spend more time together. As she walks on ahead toward the Sector 7 slums, Cloud feels his heart skip a beat.

Final Fantasy VII Remake, Chapter 9

In just the opening scene of Chapter 9, we have Aerith accepting and sticking with Cloud when others cast him aside, her melting his heart with her adorableness, and Cloud literally weeping over some mysterious memory of her infamous death. That’s a lot to take in – and we’re just getting started.

Through the Collapsed Expressway

Cloud and Aerith take a moment to overlook Sector 6, which has fallen into ruin. The song that plays sets the romantic mood (and no, I’m not just opining.) Check out what the composer wrote about this piece, titled “Midnight Rendezvous,” which was published in the Remake Material Ultimania.

Midnight Rendezvous

This piece plays during the scene where Cloud and Aerith are walking together under the night sky, when she joins him under the guide of acting as a guide. The awkwardness between the two of them is so sweet; it really is one of the more romantic moments of the game. I found inspiration for this piece while walking through town around Christmastime, with all the bustle of the crowds and holidays decorations. Whenever I listen to the track now, I get pulled back into that moment, pondering the approaching end of the year. I think the sparkling sequences and the warm pads really bring out that Christmas feeling. In regard to the song’s placement in the story, I feel that it helps foster a moment of calm and respite between battles.

Mitsuto Suzuki

A cultural note: in Japan, Christmas is celebrated as a romantic holiday for couples to go on dates. (The year-end family gathering is New Year’s, not Christmas.) When Suzuki says this moment between Cloud and Aerith is one of the more romantic moments in the game, there’s an extra layer of meaning in the music being inspired by Christmas lights.

Not just in music, but the game devs themselves call this period a “date” between Cloud and Aerith when discussing the setting.

Despite its gloomy atmosphere, the collapsed expressway – a derelict area created by the Sector 6 plate crash – is where Cloud’s date with Aerith takes place. In order to balance out the contrasting moods, we decided to incorporate bright and cheerful music into the scene.

Motomu Toriyama, Final Fantasy VII Remake Material Ultimania Plus

So, when I say “Chapter 9 is just one long date between Cloud and Aerith,” this isn’t just the ramblings of a Clerith shipper. This is the official canon of the story.

In the collapsed tunnels, Aerith gradually coaxes Cloud into giving her a high five. These scenes are mini-rewards for solving puzzles with cranes, which Cloud and Aerith must tag team to do together (Cloud operates a crane hand, which Aerith rides to the opposing ledge so she can kick down a ladder. Teamwork!)

When Aerith first tries for a congratulatory high five, Cloud balks and does nothing. She tries again, and Cloud awkwardly hesitates, but stares in thought at his own hand. After the next puzzle, Cloud initiates a high five, but this time, Aerith, expecting nothing, doesn’t reciprocate – greatly embarrassing Cloud. But finally, the two touch hands at the end of the collapsed expressway level.

This isn’t the first time Cloud has failed at giving a high five in Final Fantasy VII Remake. In an earlier chapter, Tifa tried to high five Cloud as well, and Cloud ignored her attempt, too. This high five “journey” with Aerith illustrates how the two grow closer and more in sync, and we get an encore high five in the Colosseum later on in this same chapter.

Where did the concept of Aerith wanting to high five Cloud, and the subsequent attempts between both of them to do this, originally come from?

The time they spend together heading between the Sector 5 Slums and Wall Market is an important time for Cloud and Aerith, as this scene is the “date” that she talks about as Cloud’s reward. We used the high five to show the relationship between the two characters and how the distance has been broken down between them.

Motomu Toriyama (Co-Director (Scenario Design)), Square Enix website

Yet another confirmation of these two being on a “date”! Here’s more official notes from the music composers:

Collapsed Expressway

This is the music that plays while Cloud and Aerith traverse the collapsed expressway, a portion of the game that brings with it both excitement and unease. [..] I hope you can sense Cloud and Aerith gradually growing closer through the music, too, from “Midnight Rendezvous” to “Collapsed Expressway,” then finally “High Five.”

Mitsuto Suzuki

High Five

[…] This song acts as a companion piece to Mitsuto Suzuki’s “Collapsed Expressway,” so I hope yo ucan enjoy how these unique songs work together as you play the game.

Naoyuki Honzawa

There’s another notable moment in the collapsed expressway. Partway through, Cloud and Aerith come across a doused campfire left by bandits. There’s a pause where they gaze at one another after Aerith flirtatiously asks if they should relight it, after which Cloud hounds them to keep going. The scene doesn’t really serve any other purpose but to further establish romantic tension.

Even the bandits that attack them assume something is going on between the two, calling the pair “lovebirds” – which is only the start of a barrage of NPCs referring to Cloud and Aerith as a couple in this chapter. (We’ll get to that!)

A Date in The Park

The original Final Fantasy VII featured a memorable scene where Cloud and Aeris take a break in Evergreen Park (Midori Park in Japanese). They enter a playground and sit atop a slide together, side-by-side, reflecting a bit on their pasts.

Evergreen Park, where Cloud and Aerith sit and chat for a while, is one of the most meaningful locations in the original game. I hope we were able to re-create that magic for players in the remake.

Motomu Toriyama, Remake Ultimania

Toriyama calling it one of the most meaningful locations in the original, and expressing a desire to recreate the magic of the original scene, should set up our expectations for this segment, and exactly how the creators value this part of the story.

In Remake‘s version, the scene on the slide is similar, yet more profound. Aerith pushes Cloud to come up on the slide, who initially makes a show of pouting. He sits a distance from her – and then she closes the gap by scooching toward him. We see Cloud’s surprised, and even nervous, facial expression.

クラウド、上に到着し、エアリスと少しだけ距離を取り、腰をおろす。エアリスは笑顔でその距離を詰める。肩がギリギリ触れ合う距離。クラウド は平気な顔をしているが、内心はドキドキ。

Cloud arrives at the top and sits just a short distance from where Aerith is. Aerith closes the distance [between them] and smiles. Their shoulders just barely touching. Cloud’s face looks calm, but on the inside his heart was throbbing.

Final Fantasy VII Remake Material Ultimania Plus

Note that the voice scripts in the Ultimania highlight in red certain meaningful lines – and which one, in this case! In Japanese, Cloud’s heart is described using the common onomatopoeic expression doki doki. It’s the sound of a heart pounding, and is overwhelmingly used in manga during scenes of romantic tension. Here, in this moment, Cloud is trying very hard to act cool and unbothered around Aerith, but in reality, he is as anxious as a grade school boy around the girl he’s crushing on.

Aerith prods Cloud to talk a bit about his time in SOLDIER. She’s fishing for information about Zack, who she reveals to Cloud is the first boy she ever fell in love with (though she has not heard from him in five years.) In the original game, she doesn’t yet mention Zack by name, and when Cloud asks if they were serious, Aerith denies this. (In Japanese, he actually asks if they were dating, to which Aerith replies no.)

In Remake, Cloud’s particular brand of mental illness – stemming both from his own psychological trauma and the very real alien cells infecting his brain – cause him to block out Zack’s name when Aerith mentions him.

鳥山氏: クラウドにとって認識したくない、聞きたくない名前に対する過剰な反応が起きている状況です。 このみどり公園でのデートシーンは、オリジナル版 「FFVII」 でも印象的なシーンでしたが、「かつてエアリスが ほかの誰かとこの場所で同じようにデートをしていたのでは」と想像するクラウドの複雑な心境を思い浮かべてみると、深みが増すかもしれません。

Aerith and Cloud at the Playground Scene

Question: When Aerith says Zack’s name, Cloud appears to have a headache. Is this because in order to protect his false memories, something is causing this reaction?

Toriyama: This occurs when Cloud has an excessive reaction to a name he doesn’t want to recognize or hear. This date scene in Evergreen Park was also an impressive scene in the original FF7. However, thinking about how Cloud imagines that Aerith was once on a similar date in this same place with someone else, which invokes complicated feelings within him, perhaps makes it feel deeper.

Final Fantasy VII Material Ultimania Plus, page 109

While Cloud doesn’t dwell on or even hear Zack’s name, he is indeed hyper-focused on what Aerith is saying. In fact, he’s jealous – getting hit with “complicated feelings” when he imagines Aerith having a similar date with someone else here at this park. This confirms that not only do the devs consider Cloud and Aerith to be on a date right now, Cloud himself thinks so, too.

There’s a sweet moment afterwards when Aerith admires Cloud’s eyes, calling them pretty. (Contrast this to a moment in Chapter 3 when Tifa says Cloud’s eyes scare her.) Talk of mako eyes invokes more memories of her teenage heartbreak, and the mood again sombers. Aerith tells herself, “Gotta look forward, not back.” She’s determined to move on from the past and look toward the future – and to Cloud.

Now it’s finally time for Cloud and Aerith to part ways. They both linger awkwardly. Despite Cloud’s previous insistence that he was in a hurry to get back to Sector 7, he now asks if Aerith will be all right going home alone – and even offers to escort her back home.

Aerith: Ready! Wanna get to Sector 7 in style? This is the passageway for you.

Cloud & Aerith: So…

Aerith: (chuckles) Go ahead.

Cloud: You gonna be okay getting home?

Aerith: And if I said I wasn’t?

Cloud: I’ll go with you.

Aerith: Thought you needed to get back? (chuckles) Don’t worry. I have a backup route for emergencies. And it’s safer too.

Aerith teases him for suddenly not being in such a hurry after all, and then admits she actually knows a better (and safer) route home. Cloud reacts with a look of surprise at her trick – and then a smile. Here is what the official voice script says:

クラウド、「だろうな」と「エアリスにしてやられた」と思う。でも彼女の「もう少し一緒にいたい」という気持ちの表れなのだろうと思えば悪い気はし ない。微笑むクラウド。エアリスも悪戯な笑顔を見せる。

Cloud thinks, “Of course there is” and “Aerith pulled one over me.” However, it’s hard to feel bad when he considers it’s probably an indication of her wish to spend more time with him. Cloud smiles. Aerith returns a mischievous grin.

Final Fantasy VII Material Ultimania Plus, page 109 / Unofficial translation by Shinra Archaeology

Cloud not only realizes that Aerith truly does want to spend more time with him, it makes him happy. We, both the audience and Aerith, are blessed with the sight of one of Cloud Strife’s rare smiles.

Into Wall Market

Just before they part ways, Cloud and Aerith spot a glammed-up Tifa riding a chocobo-drawn carriage into the red light district of Wall Market. Tifa reveals her plan to infiltrate Don Corneo’s mansion and interrogate him for details on some nefarious plot. As Cloud watches the carriage depart, he opts not to rescue Tifa – until Aerith demands they do so. Into Wall Market we go!

One of the very first events that can occur in this seedy nightlife precinct is a conversation with a man advertising a love hotel. Upon seeing Cloud and Aerith together, this barker says he has the “perfect room” for a “sweet-looking couple” like them.

Cloud then has the option to ask the barker how much the rooms are.

Barker: You two! Yes, you! Do you have a place to stay this enchanted evening? We have the perfect room for a sweet-looking couple like you!

Cloud: How much?

Aerith: Cloud!

Final Fantasy VII Remake, Chapter 9

You read that right. Cloud can try to book a love hotel with Aerith. It’s played as a joke and Aerith laughs it off, but the fact that the player can direct Cloud to try to hook up with Aerith minutes after the accepting a mission to save Tifa is bonkers.

By the way, as Cloud and Aerith run around Wall Market, this barker isn’t the only NPC who assumes Cloud and Aerith are a couple. Here’s some other relevant dialogue:

• [Barker] Welcome to Wall Market, the pleasure capital of Midgar that’s got everything for everybody! Couple, huh? S’all good!
• [Kind Old Man] Look at you – such a handsome couple! Ahh, youth…
• [Sweet Old Man] Is that pretty little lady your girlfriend?
• [Kind Old Man] You better treat her well, you hear?
• [Sam to Cloud, after Aerith leaves the party] You ditched your lady friend and fellow champion to have a boy’s night out in Wall Market?
• [Madame M to Cloud and Aerith flirting] Look, just…take it outside the parlor, would you?

Madame M’s comment is especially comical, as it follows a moment where Aerith, dejected for having her style called “plain,” asks Cloud what he thinks about her outfit. No matter what he says, Madame M will take their banter as flirting and get exasperated with them.

The Corneo Colosseum

In the Colosseum, Cloud and Aerith put their bonding to the test. They are tasked with overcoming a roster of fights, including the challenging Hell House boss. Winning the championship rewards us with another epic high five between Cloud and Aerith (perfectly executed by Cloud!), but in case you thought the tone might be platonic, here’s a sampling of what we hear from the staff, announcers, and audience members while Cloud and Aerith are on stage.

• [Colosseum Staff] Hey, lovebirds! Over here!
• [Scotch] For our next match, we welcome two fighters—a young couple, no less!
• [Kotch] Talk about a bad date!
• [Kotch] A bad first date!
• [Audience member] “Couple”!? Get outta here with that lovey-dovey bullshit!
• [Scotch] Fresh from their first date with death, I present…the lucky couple!
• [Audience member] “Couple” my ass! The hell you two tryin’ to pull!?
• [Scotch] Once more—the sweethearts who’ve surprised us with upset after spectacular upset! The power couple with a boundless love for bloodshed! The champions of Madam M—Cloud and Aerith!
• [Kotch] And the winners of the Corneo Cup—the deadly and dynamic duo, Cloud and Aerith!
• [Scotch] Participating in this match will be this evening’s leading lights—the dynamic duo that has crushed all competition thus far! Cloud and Aerith!
• [Audience member] Cloud! Over here! Look at them! They’re so adorable!
• [Kotch] The manifestation of pure evil versus the most badass couple this side of Midgar—have you ever seen a fight more incredible, more epic!?
• [Scotch] This couple has fought the toughest of the tough, the meanest of the mean, but can they handle the horror of the Hell House!?
• [Scotch] Get a load of those bulging biceps! I know what Aerith sees in him!
• [Kotch] Has our dynamic duo already found this house’s major design flaw!?
• [Kotch] A heroic move by Aerith as she provides support for her partner! Savor that healing wind!
• [Kotch] This housewarming party is putting their love to the test! Are they strong enough to pull through?
• [Scotch] Now that is the price you pay for daring to get in the way of true love!
• [Kotch] The bonds of love, severed by death! Can they shoulder the burden of their loss and claim revenge?
• [Kotch] The lovebirds are going hard at the house, but they’ll have to do better than that if they wanna raze this roof!
• [Scotch] These two got on the wrong side of this house! Can our couple cope?
• [Scotch] This could be the beginning of the end for our lovebirds!
• [Kotch] The dynamic duo is faltering – could this be the end!?
• [Kotch] A barrage of furniture is headed straight for our capable couple!
• [Kotch] Talk about a girlfriend you can rely on! Be still my beating heart!
• [Kotch] Does our dynamic duo have what it takes to defeat the security of this high-tech home!?
• [Kotch] Our favorite couple is about to get a face full of flame! Is there any way to escape the heat!?
• [Kotch] It looks like the Hell House is throwing a neighborhood get-together! And our lucky couple’s been invited to the soiree!
• [Kotch] Looks like our couple’s in for another round of musical chairs!
• [Kotch] What will the lovebirds do – what will they do!?
• [Kotch] Folks, it’s not looking food for the lovebirds in this brutal battle!
• [Kotch] Our tremendous twosome has put on their hard hats!
• [Kotch] We’re in the final stretch of this special once-in-a-lifetime match! But has our power couple done enough to take home the cup?!
• [Scotch] Cloud and Aerith – they stand poised to win it all!

Even as you’re getting blown up with teddy bear projectiles left and right, the game is slamming you on the head with the fact that Cloud and Aerith have romantic chemistry that’s visible to everybody else, everywhere, all the time.

Dress Reveals and Dancing

After Cloud and Aerith win the championship, Aerith briefly leaves the party for her glamorous makeover. When she reappears, we get possibly the most romantic scene in the game.

Aerith meets Cloud on the other side of a bridge, and the red carpet is literally rolled out for her entrance. Cloud watches, jaw dropped. Fireworks go off. A close-up of Cloud’s awed face, then Aerith’s. Aerith steps toward him like a bride walking down the aisle. When they meet, Cloud flubs his words, stammering.

Aerith: Heya.
Cloud: That’s really…
Aerith: Yeah. Corneo’s got certain…tastes. This dress is so gaudy and impossible to move in…
Cloud: Y-yeah…
Aerith: Cloud!?
Cloud: Uh.. ‘Scuse me.

This is, perhaps, the best example – and maybe only example – in the entire game where Cloud is portrayed as overcome with romantic attraction toward anyone.

Aerith’s red dress entrance is not the only option, of course. Aerith can wear one of three possible dresses. The red dress is, however, without a doubt, the “correct” option. Not only does it call back to her red Wall Market dress from the original game, it’s the “best” option for completing all side quests in Chapter 8. Furthermore, this scene is also featured in the end-game credits montage, no matter what dress you personally unlocked.

That being said, Aerith’s entrance for her “so-so” dress and her “bad” dress are also adorable. In the case of the former, Aerith struts out confidently in a dress of her own choosing, and when she asks, Cloud, in Japanese, says he likes it.

At any rate, this feels like it could have been the finale of their Chapter 9 date, but Aerith has this great idea to help Cloud get into Don Corneo’s girls-only mansion. You guessed it: Cloud has to dress like a beautiful woman. It’s Cloud’s turn to get dolled up.

Onto the Honeybee Inn! A kinky, bee-themed brothel in the original game, this time around, it’s a cabaret stage. Cloud is taken aside to perform a live dance number with Andrea Rhodea in order to impress him enough to win both a pass into Don Corneo’s bridal auditions and a makeover. Aerith watches in the audience while Cloud performs to the song “Stand Up” – and here’s what Toriyama says about it:

蜜蜂の館のダンスバトルの英語の曲名は、セクシーなイメージで徐々にふたりの恋愛的な感情が盛り上がっていくようにしたかったのですが、私のボキャブラリーでは難しかったので、ローカライズチームに案をもらって、その中でイメージに近いものを選びました。日本人から見てもかっこよいタイトルになったと思います。

[Translation] I wanted the English song title for the dance battle at the Honeybee Inn to give off a sexy image, where romantic feelings are gradually rising between the two.

Toriyama, Famitsu interview

And sexy feelings are rising. If Aerith’s red dress entrance demonstrated Cloud’s sexual attraction to Aerith, this time, it’s Aerith’s turn. While Cloud dances, Aerith cheers and even starts audibly panting in excitement (?!)

When Cloud’s makeover is finally revealed, we see Aerith’s jaw drop and her wide-eyed adoration. Compare the moment to Cloud’s face when she revealed her own dress.

The game uses Cloud and Aerith’s respective dress reveals as vehicles for building and establishing their sexual attraction to one another. The camera lingering on their faces and they see the other in a new light is paralleled deliberately.

By the way, as a bonus, here’s some official key art of the Honeybee Inn performance. Can you see Cloud and Aerith in the audience? After Cloud finished cross-dressing, did they stick around and watch the rest of the performance?

Best Date Ever

When Cloud and Aerith reunited in the Sector 5 church in Chapter 8, Aerith promised Cloud one date. Technically, this “date” began last chapter – as Aerith considers her time spent with Cloud to be the “priceless reward” (she tells Cloud as much in field dialogue!) Chapter 9, however, is when the night really gets started.

To sum it up, for their first date together, Cloud and Aerith did some rooftop parkour, ran from the authorities, picked flowers, fought monsters, and saved some orphans in the past chapter. In Chapter 9, this continues with a surprise ambush where Aerith accepts Cloud rather than othering him, the two explore a bandit-infested collapsed tunnel and learn to touch hands, sit together and reminisce in a park, hang out in a night-life district, enter (and win) a battle competition as a team, each get extreme makeovers, and finally watch (or take part in) a cabaret performance. All while romantic music plays in the background.

Has there ever been a more epic date? (Who knows – maybe Cloud and Aerith will manage to top it in their second date at Gold Saucer in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth!)