In the beginning of the game, Cloud was working as a mercenary hired by AVALANCHE, a rebel group trying to stop the Shinra Corporation's destruction of the planet.  The Shinra wanted to use Mako Energy, the lifeblood of the planet, for their own personal profits and AVALANCHE was out to stop Shinra at any cost.  However, their group was seen as terrorists because they used fear tactics to get their message across.  Cloud's first mission with them was to blow a reactor that pumped out Mako Energy, but the explosion would kill many innocent people who lived in the sector surrounding it.  After he blew the reactor, Cloud headed for the train, only to first meet Aeris, a flower merchant.  He talked to her and bought one of her flowers, much to her delight.  Later on, after fighting one of Shinra's machines, he fell off the top plate and came crashing down through the roof of a church in the sector 5 slums.  It was an old abandoned church, and Aeris was there tending to her huge flower bed.  She asked him to become her bodyguard and protect her from the Shinra who were trying to abduct her.  Cloud agreed, and also accepted her offer of a date for payment, and helped her escape the Turks, a branch of spies from Shinra.


        After they escaped from the church and lost the Turks who were pursuing her, Aeris brought Cloud to her house and introduced him to her adopted mother, Elmyra.  Her mother warned Cloud that he should leave before Aeris woke up to keep her daughter out of danger.  Cloud tried to follow her mother's wishes, but the next morning he woke up and found Aeris waiting for him outside.  She led him to sector 7 to find his friends, Tifa and Barrett, whom he had left behind when he fell off the top plate.  Before he left, they stopped in an old playground that Aeris used to go to when she little.  They had a sweet conversation on top of an old Mog slide where Aeris told him a bit about Zack, her first boyfriend.  Before Cloud and Aeris could leave, a Chocobo drawn cart with Tifa in the back headed to the Wall Market.  Cloud decided he had to go see what she was up to, because Wall Market was not a nice place for women to be.  They eventually made their way to the Don's mansion, a local pimp who had three girls brought to his house each day and he would chose one to 'have fun with'.  Aeris volunteered to go in and see if Tifa is okay, but Cloud didn't want her in danger.  Aeris came up with the idea to have Cloud dress up like a girl to get inside, and he reluctantly agreed.  They have fun going around the town collecting the items he will need, and they soon make their way into the mansion with Tifa, Aeris, and Cloud being the three girls for the Don to choose from.  (Your actions in the Wall Market determine who the Don chooses).


        After they make their way out of the sewers and train graveyard, Cloud sees his comrades in AVALANCHE on top of the pillar fighting for their lives.  Shinra had gotten wind that the group's hideout was in Sector 7, and was going to drop the plate above it to crush the sector and eliminate the rebel group.  Cloud asked Aeris to look after Wedge, who had fallen from the pillar, and Tifa asked her to go and get Marlene (Barrett's young daughter) from Sector 7 before anything happened.  Aeris agreed and was captured by the Turks when she brought Marlene to her mother's house.  The Turks promised not to harm Marlene if Aeris came with them and so there was no choice.  Cloud saw that she was in danger and watched in agony as the helicopter flew off with his friend inside.  As Barrett, Tifa, and Cloud escaped the pillar, Cloud showed his first shred of emotion when he was worried over Aeris.  Cloud takes his two friends to Aeris' house where they find out about her mysterious past from her mother.  Aeris was the last surviving Ancient, the first people that inhabited the planet.  Ancients, or Cetras as they were sometimes called, had special abilities like being able to 'hear' and 'talk with' the planet.  Aeris could even hear her dead mother, Infalna speak to her sometimes.


        Cloud eventually rescued Aeris from the Shinra building and she was happy knowing that Cloud had come to her rescue.  They whole group was captured as they tried to escape.  Cloud and Aeris spoke through the cell's wall and he expressed his feelings over how he was worried about her.  Aeris confirms that the price for his being her bodyguard is one date and Tifa gets jealous.  Cloud expresses interest in her background and she tells him about being an Ancient and some of the things she hears when she can talk to the planet.  They all eventually make their way out of the building and the game progresses.  At one point the group returns to the Gold Saucer, a theme park where they are stranded when the railway breaks.  Cloud and Aeris go on a date to pass the time and first go to a play where they are asked to participate in the show.  Afterwards, they go on the Gondola for a tour around the Gold Saucer.  While on the ride, Aeris pours out her feelings to him.  She says that he reminds her of Zack, her first boyfriend, and that is what attracted her to him at first, but she realized Cloud was different and wanted to find out everything about him.  They agree that they had a good time together and Aeris says they should do it again one day.


        After Cloud's party goes to the Temple of the Ancients, Sephiroth (the villain who wanted to journey to the Promised Land to claim it for himself and his 'mother', Jenova) began to manipulate Cloud for his own benefit.  He made Cloud hurt Aeris after he gave him the Black Materia, and Aeris left the party to pursue Sephiroth on her own.  She appeared to Cloud in a dream and said that she forgave him and that it wasn't his fault.  She also tells him that she'll come back to him when it is all over.


        Cloud woke up after he couldn't reach her in his dream after chasing after her.  He is upset that she left and follows her to City of the Ancients.  They reach the Forgotten Capital, and Cloud sees her praying on an alter.  Sephiroth, using his manipulative abilities again, tried to have Cloud kill Aeris.  The other group members stopped him, but Sephiroth was more than happy to do his own dirty work.  He flew down from above and stabbed his masamune blade straight through Aeris, killing her right in front of her love's eyes.  Cloud is devastated and cries and demands to know what "we are supposed to do", him and Aeris together.  He sadly sets her body to rest in the clear waters below the alter.  After her death, Cloud wasn't the same.  He felt awful for almost killing her himself, and he almost quit the journey before he hurt anyone else.  Although he did decide to continue, he said that his main reason for fighting was for Aeris.  Near the end of the game, Cloud comes to terms with his feelings for Aeris and tells Tifa that he wants to go to the Promised Land (the place of supreme happiness) to see Aeris.  Tifa sadly accepts the truth that Cloud's heart is spoken for.


        Many FFVII fans don't think that Aeris and Cloud belong together for many reasons, most importantly her death.  I don't agree with that.  You can love someone who is dead just as much as someone who is alive.  C/T fans also say that Cloud and Aeris had no romantic scenes and that Tifa and Cloud did because they were childhood friends.  Now, I'm not going to get into my opinion of their "childhood friendship", but I will comment on Cloud and Aeris' romantic scenes.  Look at Cloud in the beginning of the game.  He's cold, uncaring, and selfish.  Now look at him in any scene that Aeris is around.  He seems much happier, doesn't he?  He smiles, has fun, and cares about someone else.  I am no Tifa fan, but I do respect C/T fans' opinions, I just don't happen to agree with them.  In the end of the game, when Cloud is in the lifestream, he looks up and smiles as he sees Aeris' hand coming towards him and then is dragged back to the real world where Aeris' hand is replaced by Tifa's as she reaches to help him up.  He wanted to be with Aeris, that's why he smiled and reached for her hand.  Cloud wanted to be with Aeris, he one true love.


        Cloud and Aeris were together again in the Square/Disney game "Kingdom Hearts."  In the game, Aeris was working with Yuffie and Squall to rid the world of the Heartless.  Cloud, on the other hand, teamed up with Hades the Lord of the Underworld to find his "light".  Hades promised to help Cloud if he could successfully kill Hercules in the Coliseum.  In the end, the two were reunited in the Hollow Bastion library.  They hurried over to each other and looked deep into each others eyes as Aeris did the movement from FFVII where she claps her hands behind her back and leans forward.  Even though Kingdom Hearts is a separate game and thus universe entirely from FFVII, I like to think that perhaps it is just a way for them to be reunited, at least in some small way.  They also both appeared in "Kingdom Hearts 2", and Aeris was the only one Cloud would speak to.  He told her that he had to fight the darkness in his soul and Aeris said she would wait for him and cheer him on.  Tifa happened to be in that game too, but her sole purpose in the game was stalking Cloud, and she never did find him.


       The most recent thing we've seen Cloud and Aeris in is the movie "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children".  In the movie, Cloud was having trouble finding a reason to live and was wracked with guilt over failing Aeris.  He met up with her in the game, whether it was in his own mind or somewhere, and he told her that he wanted to be forgiven.  Aeris told him that she was happy that he came to see her.  When he was in a battle later on in the movie, it was a vision of Aeris that gave him that extra bit of strength to keep going.  During his fight with Sephiroth, Cloud was asked what the thing that he cherished most was, and the first image we saw was of Aeris.  And in the end of the game, Cloud smiled as he saw Aeris and finally seemed... happy.  As the credits rolled, we saw images of Cloud riding his motorcycle and Aeris standing in a field.  It is possible that he was able to see her?

        Since Aeris died, they can't have much of a regular relationship, at least in Final Fantasy canon.  However, in the movie, and even at the end of the game, it seemed that Aeris was still around Cloud and that the two had a spiritual connection of some kind.  I think it is possible that they could still communicate on some level with one another, but even if they couldn't, Cloud wasn't going to forget Aeris.  She would always live on in his memory and his heart.

This scene was near the beginning of FFVII when Cloud and Aeris were locked in separate cells in the Shinra Building.  Cloud leaned against the wall and wondered aloud where Aeris was.

Cloud: "I wonder how Aeris is doing."

Aeris: "Cloud, are you there?"

Cloud: "Aeris!? You safe?"

Aeris: "Yeah, I'm all right. (I knew that Cloud would come for me!)"

Cloud: "Hey, I'm your bodyguard right?"

Aeris: "The deal was for one date, right?" ~~~

This scene is when Aeris, Cloud, and Cait Sith (the fortune teller) were in the Temple of the Ancients.  Aeris wanted to ask Cait Sith to tell her fortune before he left on a mission of his own and he agreed.  Most of his fortunes were silly and meaningless, so that made this one all the more special.

Aeris: "Hmm, let's see how compatible Cloud and I are!"

Cait Sith: "That'll cost ya. Exactly one date!  Here I go!  This isn't good. I can't say it.  Poor Tifa."

Aeris: "No! Tell me! I promise I won't get mad!"

Cait Sith: "Is that so? Then I'll tell you.  Looks good. You are perfect for each other!  Aeris' star and Cloud's star! They show a great future!  Cloud, I'll be your matchmaker, preacher... I'll do whatever you want me to!  You just call me when it all happens!"

~~~

This was the scene with Cloud in "Kingdom Hearts" after the Coliseum battle.  Sora had just beaten Cerberus and came to see if Cloud,who had been injured by the monster, was alright.

Sora: "Hey, are you all right?"

Cloud: "Yeah."

Sora: "So, why did you go along with him anyway?"

Cloud:  "I'm looking for someone.  Hades promised to help.  I tried to exploit the power of darkness,
but it backfired.  I fell into the darkness, and I couldn't find the light."

Sora: "You'll find it.  I'm searching to."

Cloud: "For your light?  Don't lose sight of it."

~~~

In the end of "Advent Children", Cloud was in the pool of water in the church after just having healed the children of Geostigma.  As he looked past the happy people surrounding him, he saw Aeris leaving the church.  She turned and spoke to him and he smiled as he watched her go.  It was a nice scene and it appeared to me that he realized that Aeris would always be with him.

Aeris: "You see? Everything's alright."

Cloud: "I know.  I'm not alone.  Not anymore."