Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. A movie made as a sequel to the immensely popular video game, Final Fantasy VII. It had amazing graphics, action-packed battle scenes, and great music. It had all of the main party members - Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Yuffie, Red XIII, Vincent, Cid, Cait Sith, and -- to the enjoyment of many -- Aeris, who had died in the video game. It had all of our favorite former bad guys; Rufus and the Turks to be exact. And it even had Sephiroth. Simply awesome. But I'm not writing a review of the movie. No, this is about the love that transcended death - Cloud and Aeris.
As we all know, Cloud and Aeris were in love in Final Fantasy VII, with numerous amounts of evidence to back this up (for more information on their relationship, visit LizJen's Soulmates section and their various affiliates). However, they were star-crossed lovers - Aeris was murdered by Sephiroth at the end of the first disk of the video game. This caused Cloud's intent to kill Sephiroth much more personal, and he eventually succeeded in killing him at the end of the game. He also vowed to meet Aeris at The Promised Land, after nearly reaching her hand with his own amidst the Lifestream. The last time we see him is when he is staring at the Lifestream, when Aeris appears inside it, guiding the Lifestream to destroy Meteor. What happened after that, however?
In Advent Children, Cloud is depicted as a physically strong, but mentally weak man suffering from Geostigma, a fatal, incurable disease that destroys one's body (this disease originated from Jenova's body parts that fell into the Lifestream, which covered the planet to stop Meteor, and affected the weak-minded and the frail). He is also depressed, overcome with guilt, under the assumption that he is no help to anyone, and he has lost the will to live (Tifa: You have Geostigma, don't you? You're going to give up and die, is that it...So it is). He runs a delivery service and helps Tifa take care of orphaned children, as well as Marlene. Although Marlene and Denzel, a boy who is under Tifa's care, are particularly fond of him, he is never around and distances himself from them, his friends, and people in general; he has a PHS, but never answers it. It seems as if all the confidence and will he had two years ago had faded away, and his traumatic past experiences caught up to him. His guilt is mainly centered on Aeris and Zack's death, both of which he feels responsible for.
When the events of Advent Children begin to unfold, not wanting to fight anymore, afraid of others getting killed, he refuses to help Rufus defeat the three silver-haired men (Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz). He doesn't get involved until he learns that Kadaj's gang has taken Marlene, Denzel, and other children to the Forgotten City. When he is riding through the Forgotten City, his eyes are darting around, looking around at the landscape (perhaps remembering the event that had taken place there previously). He is then pulled into his inner consciousness, and this is the first encounter he has with Aeris (or, to be precise, her spiritual link to him, which lived on even after death). Aeris then expresses her joy when she is able to connect to him. “You came! Even though you're about to break. That's a good sign.” These words can cause one to assume that Aeris has been unable to connect to him beforehand due to his mental instability, and that the fact she was able to speak with him was a sign that he wasn't giving up so easily anymore. Aeris asks why he came, why she was all of a sudden able to link to him. “ I think ... I want to be forgiven, more than anything.” Cloud is expressing the fact that he wants to feel closure in his mind, by Aeris forgiving him for her death. Aeris doesn't understand this and asks him who he wants to be forgiven by. This isn't surprising, as Aeris felt no anger towards Cloud and did not accuse him of her death.
Later, in a flashback to when Tifa and Cloud woke up after being in Aeris' Church, unconscious, Tifa is yelling at Cloud angrily for not letting people into his life and for giving up on life so easily. Although Tifa is more than willing to help him and be by his side, he doesn't feel any better. You would think, if the woman you loved was there beside you, willing to help fight with you, you would be happy. Yet, Cloud tells her he's not fit to help anyone. In fact, Cloud didn't even want to help the children (not because of uncaring, but because of fear), but Reno and Rude, wanting to help Tifa open Cloud up, make him go in their stead. He then goes back to the “I let you die” excuse, and Aeris understands why Cloud is so unwilling. A little frustrated at him for neglecting others because of her, she tells him, that instead of seeking forgiveness, he should be the one forgiving. These words manage to get through to Cloud, and he starts to change. He decides to help the others stop Kadaj's gang, and to stop being so selfish. He even shows signs of the old Cloud, cracking a joke to Tifa before they go to help Barret and the others fight Bahamut-Sin.
In the battle with Bahamut-Sin, Cloud is thrown up in the air by his friends in order to reach the monster, which was flying high over Edge (the city rebuilt over Migdar). However, when Cloud comes into contact with the beast's Mega Flare, he is struggling to keep himself from being pushed back by the flame. Just when the pressure is about to push him back, he sees Aeris floating towards him with her hand outstretched. He takes her hand, and she asks him if he's ready. Aeris has given a huge amount of mental support and with it, he destroys Bahamut-Sin with an impressive Climhazzard. With a newfound sense of strength, he goes after Kadaj, who is found in Aeris' Church. He goes to attack the silver-haired man, but feels his Geostigma acting up. However, a puddle of pure water mixed with the Lifestream spirals towards the roof of the church and it begins to rain. Kadaj flees, the rain painful to him, and Cloud's Geostigma is cured from the rain. “Let's go, Cloud.” Aeris says this in the Church. She says, let's go, indicating she will be with him spiritually when he goes off to fight Kadaj.
After he fights Kadaj and he turns into Sephiroth - quite a surprise there - they get into a huge, and fantastic, fight. Sephiroth questions him on where Cloud found his strength, and Cloud refuses to tell him, although we all know where it came from - Aeris. Sephiroth manages to back Cloud against a wall and stab him, asking him who he cherishes most. He then says he wants to have the pleasure of taking it away. As soon as he hears these words, Cloud's head snaps up and looks at Sephiroth with a look of pure hatred and anger, as he thinks of whom he cherishes most, the first thing on his mind being Aeris, thinking of her multiple times. His anger stemmed from the fact that Sephiroth did take away what he cherished most, and he wasn't about to let him get to the others he cared for. Cloud's anger gives him a burst of strength, and he defeats Sephiroth with Omnislash V-5. Sephiroth's black Lifestream disappears, and Aeris' Great Gospel, which was being blocked, manages to fall again, giving closure to Kadaj, and heals the various people in Edge with Geostigma, including Rufus.
Cloud stares up at the sky, and closes his eyes, feeling peaceful, when Yazoo shoots him from behind. Cloud nearly dies, but Aeris and Zack don't let him, with Aeris playfully joking around. He wakes up in a crystal clear pool of water in Aeris' Church, where everyone is gathered around him. He cures Denzel's Geostigma with the water, and then looks around at all his friends. He then notices something that grabs his attention. He sees Aeris at the front of the church, near the doorway. He looks her way, and she turns to face him, showing her beautiful face for the first time the entire movie, and tells him everything's alright. She then leave, with Zack waving at him and following Aeris' suite. Cloud's face then breaks into a smile, and he says that he knows, because he's not alone anymore.
Throughout the movie, Aeris provides Cloud with emotional support that he accepts. Tifa and the others attempt to help him, but he only accepts help from Aeris, who manages to bring him out of his shell. He still shows he loves her after her death. He lives in her Church, for one thing. After all, it is where they formally met, and he most likely wants to look after her flowers as some part of atonement. He and his friends also wear pink ribbons to remember her, although you don't see Cloud's until late in the movie. The most noticeable evidence of his feelings is shown at the very end of the movie, when Cloud wakes up in Aeris' Church. What is this evidence? He smiles. At Aeris and her words. He does smile at the children around him and at his friends, but not exclusively at Tifa. In fact, she looks him in the eye and smiles, and he looks away. But, at the end, when Aeris speaks to him, he gives her a special smile. One that was meant for her only. Also, you'll notice that although Zack leaves the church after Aeris, her shadow still lingers longer than his.
At the very end, after the credits, there is a music video for Cloud and Aeris, called Calling. It was filmed in Hawaii, with Cloud and Aeris rendered onto the landscape. It shows Cloud driving around on his motorcycle. It eventually shows Aeris standing in a field of yellow flowers. She turns towards the road, as if hearing something. Shortly afterward, you see Cloud drive into the same exact field she was standing in. Later, you see his desk covered with pictures of the flower field, and even a fresh picked bouquet lying on his desk. Also, in Reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII, a short feature in the DVD showing the adventure in the video game, you see Cloud's motorcycle parked on the road and it seems as if he's in the middle of the field when he's talking on his PHS. What does this show? That Cloud fulfilled his wish—to meet Aeris at her Promised Land. He found her Promised Land and goes there frequently to meet up, spiritually, with the woman he loves.
