Tifa: “You forgot the promise, too.”
Cloud: “Promise?”
Tifa: “So you DID forget. Remember…. Cloud. It was seven years ago…”
Remember when Sephiroth called Cloud a puppet? Apparently, he wasn’t the only one controlling Cloud. Only instead of controlling him directly, Tifa was leading his thoughts. But she mostly did this to manipulate him. For example:
Tifa: “Hey, why don’t we make a promise? Umm, if you get really famous and I’m ever in a bind…..You come save me, all right?”
Cloud: “What?”
Tifa: “Whenever I”m in trouble, my hero will come and rescue me. I want to at least experience that once.”
Cloud: “What?”
Tifa: “Come on–! Promise me—-!”
Cloud: “All right…. I promise.”
Tifa: “You remember now? …Our promise?”
Cloud: “I’m not a hero and I’m not famous. I can’t keep…. the promise.”
Tifa: “But you got your childhood dream, didn’t you? You joined SOLDIER.”
(Cloud looks down.)
Tifa: “So come on! You’ve got to keep your promise……”
Cloud fulfilled his promise when he saved Tifa from Sephiroth. And Tifa knows this. But now she’s using his faulty memories to her advantage, in order to coerce Cloud into joining a terrorist cell. But she gets even creepier. Let’s just assume you answer “yes” to all of her questions:
Cloud goes into Tifa’s house.
Tifa: “Cloud…? Did you go into my house?”
Cloud: Yeah…I thought you might be home.“
Cloud walks up to Tifa’s room.
Tifa: “Cloud…? Did you go into my room?”
Cloud: “Yeah.”
~~Chris Hansen: “Cloud is it? Why don’t you take a seat over there…”~~
TIFA! STOP IT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?
It’s clear she doesn’t believe Cloud actually did any of this. If she did, or she wouldn’t have to continue to lead him on. But she knows his mind is kinda fuzzy. Yet her memory is hazy too, and she’s wants to see how much of Cloud’s real personality is there.
But she’s also using him to craft a narrative to everyone else in Kalm. A narrative which lets everyone, including Aerith, know that he thinks about her. He goes into her house to look/wait for her, he
- Goes to her room,
- Plays her piano,
- Reads her letters,
- Pretty much stalks her.
She doesn’t care if Cloud is a creeper. He’s her creeper, Aerith!
LAY OFF!
This initially makes Tifa really sad and pathetic. Only, Cloud has an extremely weak mind at this stage. Tifa’s intentionally taking advantage of him. She’s somewhat of a predator at this point. And she gets what she deserves when it backfires:
Cloud walks to the dresser.
Received “Orthopedic Underwear!”
Tifa: “Cloud!!!”
You can have Cloud say “It’s true” or “Just kidding. Don’t get mad…”. But either way, Cloud’s a jerk and Tifa embarrasses himself. Aerith probably gleefully gloats “oh my” to herself. Oh, how EMBARRASSING, Tifa! And now Tifa has to desperately change the subject.
Tifa: “…Cloud. We’re talking about something really important here.”
Oh, we were, Tifa? Were we? Was that us now? Are you sure it wasn’t just you using a mentally ill man to fulfill your fantasies, Tifa? But if Tifa is leading Cloud on with a hypothetical situation, does she really own Orthopedic Underwear?
…the most important thing to keep in mind for the remake is if we’ll see Tifa’s Orthopedic Underwear 😉