The truth comes out now !!! read it if u want to no the truth!!

We debated if damn Cloud loved Tifa or Aeris –characters in our beloved role playing game at the time, Final Fantasy VII.

To bring up this argument again seems almost juvenile doesn’t it? I mean if you just search and dredge up Internet web archives on this subject matter, you will find plenty of bickering between kids –yes I said kids– on the matter. It has been more than a decade since the game’s release –I certainly was a kid when I played this game. The thing you have to take into consideration is as kids we are more in tune to polarization; that is to say, kids are more likely to identify things as clearly bad or clearly good. Sephiroth is clearly bad. Cloud and his party are clearly good. Players are presented a solemn and sad scene in which Cloud grieves the lost of his beloved Aeris. So Cloud must of clearly loved Aeris right? Maybe. To a kid there is not a lot of room for middle subtle details. That is why at the ripe old age of 23 I wanted to revisit this debate; because I feel I have a more mature perspective. In fact, as an aside, if you revisit the stories of some of the games we use to play, you’ll find that a lot of them actually have some adult themes. With new Final Fantasy VII related intellectual properties coming out like Crisis Core and Advent Children, it seems like a ripe old time as any to take a stand no matter how old or juvenile the debate is.

I see no better way to begin my tirade than at the beginning of the game where we find our main protagonist, Cloud Strife, fresh in a convoluted state of mind. If you remember Cloud, nearly catatonic from Mako experiments, had just come from an ordeal of escaping Shinra Mansion and then watching his friend and comrade, Zack, die. It was through this ordeal that Cloud finds himself mixing up Zack’s experiences and persona with his own. Cloud’s personal confusion would become a lasting theme throughout the game as he struggles to find his true self; while he struggles, he crosses paths with the ill faited, innocent Aeris Gainsborough. One significant detail that players don’t realize, either through forgetting or simply missing it, is Zack and Aeris had a romantic relationship prior to Cloud and Aeris crossing paths. It is because of Aeris prior relationship and Cloud’s mix up of Zack’s persona that we begin to see a relationship bloom and nurture as the team went off on adventures to save the world. Aeris saw a bit of Zack in Cloud, and Cloud found someone who saw something in him and believed in him –feelings and sentiments that were missing to Cloud as he grew up. It is my opinion that if Aeris hadn’t died, a real complicated love relationship might of bloomed. I say complicated because deep within Cloud’s convoluted mind, soul, and persona is the nugget of feeling he has kept with him since his childhood.

It is my honest opinion that Cloud truly loved Tifa Lockhart. Later in the game Cloud finally comes to terms with his true self; he accepted that he wasn’t Zack. With his realization he remembers the girl in which he shares a history with. He remembers the girl who he had made a promise to protect as kids. He remembers the reason why he attempted to join SOLDIER in the first place. He remembers in his heart of hearts, Tifa Lockhart (I know that was cheesy =).

A skeptical person in the Aeris camp might ask, why didn’t Cloud take his feelings further if it was the case he did love Tifa? Well like I mentioned earlier, while Cloud had mixed up his persona with that of Zack’s, his feelings for Aeris may have not been entirely artificial. In addition, in the events of Advent Children and On the Way to a Smile, Cloud still has not come to terms entirely with the death of Aeris; he is suffering from a huge case of survivor’s guilt.

Before I get flamed I want to state that the theory that I have presented is nothing more than an opinion. That is

In the summer of 2006, Square-Enix and Disney announced a brand new game to be released on March 29, 2007: KINGDOM HEARTS II: FINAL MIX+. Following suit from the original installment, this game is a complete revamp with several additional features from the previously released Kingdom Hearts II.

In FM+, Japanese players will experience the English dub of Kingdom Hearts II, as well as get the chance to fight some all-new bosses (such as Roxas in The World that Never Was, a battle that was previously a non-interactive cutscene). Additional scenes and areas are included, including several new plot developments involving Roxas in Organization XIII and the chance to explore Hollow Bastion and other areas to a fuller extent.

A major departure from the original KH:FM is the inclusion of an entirely separate game in FM+'s package. Kingdom Hearts || Re: Chain of Memories, an entirely three-dimensional PS2 remake of the wildly popular GBA game Chain of Memories, will be included with KHII's final release. Players will get the chance to experience the CoM storyline in dazzling new graphics on the Playstation 2 console. Several additions have been added to this re-release of CoM, such as new battles (Riku vs. Zexion, for example) and the chance to use Re:CoM saves to unlock new battles in its counterpart, KHII:FM+.

Developers have not announced whether KH2:FM+ will be released to North America or Europe, but several reliable sources have stated the rumored possibility of a fall 2007 release, if any.

Years before Sora's adventure, there was a great war. In a place between worlds, there were those known as "Chasers", those who had manifested great power and chanelled it through weapons they experly crafted known as the Keyblades. There were four Chasers.

The Chasers all had to power to create, save, destroy and lock world's hearts. Their keyblade gave them enough power to unlock the energy of a worlds physical heart and be able to move from world to world.

The Chasers began to follow their own ambitions. In the place between worlds, where all of their keyblades laid to rest, the four seperated. Two followed the path of light, bringing life to the worlds, following the paths of Light and Twilight. The other two, they grew unhappy and decided that those who did not respect them should perish. They followed the path of Darkness. They began to bring destruction to worlds, destroying them.

One of the two Dark Chasers realized the faults in his ways and decided to back out. Much as Riku did, this Chaser follows the path of Dawn back to the Crossroads where he is forgiven for his ways. The final Chaser, the one they called Xehanort, would not give up, would not give in. The war began, it is unknown for how long this terrible time lasted. It has been recorded though and the Chasers are much like gods.

The war was either between great armies or just between the four Chasers, either way, the Dark Chaser, the Dark Keyblade Master known as Xehanort fought against the others in a great Keyblade war.

Xehanort was defeated, and with that, he lost something dear: his memory. Cast away he was born again by sleep. Waking up in the world of Radiant Garden, almost dead, a great Saint known as Ansem found him and offered his assistance. He promised to help him and when he realized the man's memory was gone, he offered to help restore it.

The Chasers each had the ability to spread their power to a disciple or their spirits lived on through a bloodline or chosen ones. Passing their power on to make sure to Order of the Worlds was kept safe.

One Keyblade went to the King of all the Worlds: Mickey.

When Xehanort began to believe he was in fact Ansem, his fascination with the Keyblades grew. Unknowning even to himself who he was.

When the Heartless were born and began to create chaos, Riku was chosen to weild the next Keyblade, to save the people from destruction while Mickey was in the World of Darkness. But, Riku's heart was tainted by his willingness to let darkness overcome him and the Keyblade was passed on to Sora.

After being selected first and later overcome by Xehanort, Xehanort was able to harvest his power to reclaim his Dark Keyblade and thus, Riku was able to have his own.

The final Keyblade was unnecessary until later, when the goodness and innocence of Kairi was able to bring hope to the other Keyblade Weilders and she too was chosen.

Roxas only had ones because he is an element of Sora.

After their adventures had ended, Mickey sends a troubling letter to Sora, Kairi and Riku. A letter that reveals Xehanort's next plot. That he has perhaps remembered his true self. A plot to destroy the other Chasers, a plot to be the one and only Keyblade Master.

A great beast is sent to the Crossroads between worlds but is slain by one of the Chasers. The others appear from their selected paths and reclaim their Keyblades, as though they haven't been touched in a long time. They look to the road of Darkness and the shady figure of Xehanort moves forward. Through his time within Riku, he is essentially "reborn" and while Riku tries to remove him, he is never gone. With enough power he returns to the Crossroads and a great war is about to begin once again. One that will decide the fate of the Chasers and all of those who hold a Keyblade...