Aerith's Relationship with Zack
by Kuraudo
Certain people like to claim that Aerith and Zack appear
in Advent Children as a couple. These people tend to believe that Aerith was
never in love with Cloud in the first place, or they believe that Aerith's love for Zack was rekindled once they
were reunited in the Lifestream. Others believe that Aerith only loved the “Zack
in Cloud", meaning that she was actually still in love with Zack the entire time she
was with Cloud in Final Fantasy VII.
However, there is a great deal of evidence to show that Aerith truly loved Cloud
much more than Zack. In fact, that was stated quite conclusively in the
following passage from the novella Maiden of the Planet.
Aerith was in even greater pain when she thought about Cloud.
She also had good feelings towards him. At first, she thought he somehow had
some similarities to her first love. Even so, his looks, voice and personality
weren't similar and he also made her think of him as a mysterious person... But
it soon didn't matter. She loved him much more than her first love. Cloud was
her hero and he couldn't get away from danger. She saw him as someone full of
confidence, cool and had the impression that he would disappear in an instant if
she took her eyes off him. She wanted to stay by his side forever if she could.
She really wanted to.
~Maiden of the Planet
Further evidence showing that Aerith grew to love Cloud more than Zack will be
discussed in other essays on this site (see links at the bottom of the page).
Since the evidence indicates that Aerith now loves Cloud
instead of Zack, it's only logical that Aerith would have no
intention of getting back together with Zack in the Lifestream. In fact, it's
stated in Maiden of the Planet that Zack sleeps a great deal of the time
while Aerith is awake in the Lifestream, so their spirits actually spend little
time together. Furthermore,
while Cloud and Aerith share many scenes together in Advent Children, Zack and Aerith only have a total of two scenes together.
In both
of those scenes, their attention is focused solely on Cloud rather than
on
each other.
Early in the movie, it is established that Cloud feels immense guilt over the
deaths of both Zack and Aerith. After all, Zack was Cloud's best friend and Zack
lost his life while trying to protect Cloud. A grey wolf symbolizing Cloud’s
guilt in Advent Children appears at places associated with both Aerith and Zack, such as Aerith’s
church, the Forgotten City, and the place where Zack died. What other reason would Zack
have to appear to Cloud, other than to reassure his friend that there’s no need
to feel guilty about his death? Since Aerith and Zack are no longer a couple, the fact that
they both appear together in the movie only means that they appear for Cloud‘s
sake, to help him recover from his guilt, not to show that they’re together
again.
The first time that
Aerith and Zack appear together in Advent Children is in a scene with Cloud near the end of the
movie, shortly after Cloud gets caught in a fatal explosion along with Yazoo and Loz.
While Cloud is floating in whitepace, Aerith heals Cloud as Zack watches over them.
At that time, the following conversation takes place:
Cloud: “Mother?”
Aerith: “Again? Why is everyone calling me their mother lately?”
Zack: “I guess they must be fond of you.”
Aerith: “This one’s a little too big to adopt.”
Zack: “Tough luck, friend. Sounds like you don’t have a place here.”
This is the only time that Aerith and Zack speak to one
another during the movie, and there are no romantic connotations to it
whatsoever. In fact, what they say is totally centered around Cloud. The nature of the conversation is more joking than
anything, with Aerith saying, “This one’s [Cloud] a little too big to adopt.”
Zack takes this to mean that Cloud doesn’t yet have a place among the dead, and
he lets Cloud know that.
Cloud returns to the living world after being healed by Aerith. He doesn’t stay in the whitespace (among the dead)
along with Aerith and Zack, not
because they don’t want him there, but because they know that it’s not his time
yet. After all, Cloud still does have things to settle in life before he
can join them. Aerith wouldn’t let Cloud stay while she knows that he still has
things to take care of, such as possible future threats from Sephiroth or Jenova.
Although Aerith wants to be with him, she’s not
selfish.
Also of interest, according to the
FFVII Ultimania Omega at IGN, this is
said in the Reunion Files:
Cloud's final battle with Sephiroth began at 6:00 PM
on the story's second day and he woke up at 7:00 AM in Aerith's church on the
third day. There's no
suggestion of how long he was unconscious, but I'd guess it was anywhere from
10 to 12 hours
This indicates that Cloud was actually with Aerith and Zack in the
whitespace for some 10 to 12 hours while he was unconscious. Despite the fact that the
movie makes it seem like Cloud was only there for several minutes, he was
actually there for a much longer time. One has to wonder why Aerith would keep
Cloud there for such a long time, especially since it didn't appear to take her
very long to heal
him. Is it possible that an even stronger connection was established between
Cloud and Aerith during that time?
Zack and Aerith only appear together once more at the end of the movie, after
Cloud wakes up in the
church once he returns from whitespace. At this time, Aerith and Zack both appear near the doorway of
the church, which is filled with with light. No conversation takes place between
Aerith and Zack in this scene. Instead, Aerith
walks toward the doorway, then turns around to smile at Cloud and tells him that
everything’s alright. With that, she walks out the door. Zack then waves to
Cloud and follows Aerith into the light. Some people claim that, by appearing
together and walking into whitespace
together, Zack and Aerith are shown to be a couple again. However, this is untrue for
several reasons.
In the first place, there's no interaction between Aerith and Zack in that scene, let
alone anything that could be misconstrued as romantic. Zack and Aerith don’t
look or speak to each other at that time, and the focus of that scene is
completely on Cloud and Aerith, not Zack and Aerith. As Aerith walks away, the camera pans
back and we get a long look at Cloud’s reaction. As Cloud smiles, his attention
is entirely focused on Aerith, and nothing else. As soon as the camera pans back
to the doorway, Aerith is the main focus. Her colors are even much brighter and more
alive, while Zack’s appearance is much darker and muted.
Once Aerith speaks to Cloud a final time, and she turns to walk out of the
church, Aerith and Zack ignore each other. Aerith doesn’t even look at
Zack as she walks by. Zack doesn't look at Aerith, either, as he waves to Cloud and leaves.
Note also that when Zack turns away to leave, he is behind Aerith. Yet, Zack
is the one to disappear first. He moves to the side and disappears
first while Aerith’s figure lingers for a few moments after he’s gone.
Therefore, in actuality, Aerith and
Zack don’t leave the church and return to the Lifestream together.
It makes sense that, as Aerith’s purpose in the church was to reassure Cloud
that everything is alright, then Zack is there for the same reason. Since Zack was Cloud’s best friend,
it's natural to assume that Zack cares deeply for him. Knowing that Cloud felt guilty
about his death, Zack shows up in the end for the sake of Cloud, just as Aerith did.
There'd be no reason for Zack to want to show Cloud that he
and Aerith are back together, anyway, thereby rubbing it in Cloud's face.
Zack being there solely for the purpose of relieving Cloud's guilt is in fact
reinforced by the following quote from Zack’s profile in the
FFVII Anniversary Ultimania:
In order to help Cloud recover, [Zack] assured him from the Lifestream
together with Aerith.*
So it is in fact confirmed that the reason Zack was present in the doorway at
the end of Advent Children was to help Cloud recover and to help ease Cloud's
guilt. Zack's presence
had nothing to do with Aerith.
Also, though Aerith and Zack appeared together at the end of the film, this was
not Aerith’s final appearance in the movie. The last time Aerith appears in the movie is
actually with Cloud, not Zack. Aerith and Cloud are both seen in the music video
for “Calling”, which plays during the movie’s credits, and the clear implication
of that video is that Cloud is on his way to meet Aerith. Zack is nowhere to be
seen in the flower field where Aerith is shown to be waiting for Cloud.
If the creators had indeed
wanted to suggest that Aerith and Zack were back together again as a couple,
then why doesn't Zack appear in the video with Aerith? The simple fact that Zack
isn't shown during the "Calling" video suggests that once Zack returned to the Lifestream,
his job was finished and he stayed there. Since Aerith is still present during
“Calling”, however, she obviously didn't stay there with Zack. Instead, she
returned to be with Cloud. The flowers on Cloud's desk in the final scene of the
movie, along with many pictures of the flower field, also suggests that Cloud
visits her there often.
As discussed earlier, Aerith and Zack did not get back together in the Lifestream, which is shown quite clearly in Maiden of the Planet. There's no evidence to support the idea that Aerith and Zack rekindled a romance prior to Advent Children, and there is nothing in the movie to suggest that they are back together as a couple. In fact, Maiden of the Planet confirms that Aerith continues to love Cloud.
The claim that Aerith and Zack are shown together as a couple at the end of Advent Children is pure fabrication, since there is no actual evidence to support that idea. Zerith is in the past. The fact that Zack and Aerith are no longer a couple has been shown many times, just as it has been shown that Aerith loves Cloud more than Zack. Since Aerith herself has stated several times that her heart now lies with Cloud, there should be no question about it.
Advent Children Love Triangle FAQ
See these essays for more discussion of Aerith and Zack:
Aerith and Zack in Maiden of the Planet
Aerith Didn't Love Cloud Because of Zack
--------------------------------
* This quote can be found in the translation of Zack's profile from the FFVII Anniversary Ultimania at AdventChildren.net.
A screenshot of it can also be seen here: Zack's Profile from the FFVII Anniversary Ultimania
~ The novella cited in this essay can be found here: Maiden of the Planet