"Brevity is the soul of wit."

"Final Fantasy Tactics" is the role-playing strategy game that proceeded four months directly after FFVII and was the first game to include cameo appearances by Cloud and Aeris.

Cloud is transported from the future into Ivalice by use of the Cancer zodiac stone and the Celestial Globe discovered by Besrodio in Goug Machine City. A dazed and confused Cloud mutters a couple of familiar FFVII lines before fleeing. He heads to Zarghidas Trade City where he happens upon a familiar-looking flower girl also named Aeris. He ends up protecting her from a gang of knaves wanting to collect their share from her sells. Ramza and company aid Cloud and he joins their party with the hopes of returning to his own time and to the "Promised Land".

"Final Fantasy IX" has a very subtle reference to Cloud and Aeris when you visit Alexandria after it has been destroyed. In the harbor, there are two characters who might not look like them, but certainly sound reminiscent of our couple.

"To have a chance to meet a pretty flower like you in a destroyed city... Oh I'm the luckiest guy in the world!"

"Parasite Eve II" has a small reference to Cloud and Aeris made during Aya's search to find a code to access the computer in the laboratory infected with the "Cloud" virus. A note on the board says to look in the quarters for the September issue of a magazine called "Aeris".

"Kingdom Hearts", the joint venture of Square and Disney, follows the tale of a 14-year old boy named Sora on his search for his friends Riku and Kairi, after their home is attacked by the Heartless. In his journey, he discovers that he is the master of the keyblade and is joined by Disney's Goofy and Donald. The game was released in 2002 and is available on the Playstation 2.

Cloud and Aeris have a minor role in the game. Aerith (as she is now called) lives in Traverse Town, alongside Cid, Yuffie and Leon (Squall from FFVIII). They took refuge there after the Heartless conquered their old home 9 years ago. Cloud was also with them, but became separated from his friends during their escape from Hollow Bastion. In his search for Aerith, he wound up at the Olympus Coliseum and he signed a contract with Hades, the God of the Underworld, to kill Hercules and Sora in battle in exchange for his help. Cloud fails to carry out Hades� bidding and discovers that his dealings in the powers of darkness have backfired. He tells Sora that he has fallen into darkness and can't find his light.

***SPOILER Alert!!***

He does finally reunite with her in the ending credits. Below you'll find a couple of screens courtesy of Clorith from the CxA forums. Thank you!

"Kingdom Hearts: Chains of Memories" for the Game Boy Advance console, bridges the gap between the original and the up-incoming sequel. It continues Sora's story and takes place immediately after the ending of the first. Aerith and friends are still residing in Traverse Town, but have lost their memories of the young hero. Also, it appears that Cloud has now joined Sora as a summon. The game has already been released in Japan with December 7th as the confirmed release date stateside.

"Itadaki Street Special" is the first time since it's merger with Square, that Enix's long-running board game (popular in Japan) will feature both Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest characters in a Monopoly-esque type gameplay. Cloud and Aeris are amongst the few playable. It's slated as a Japan only release for the Winter of 2004.

"Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis", the prequel, takes place six years before the events of the game. It centers heavily around the Turks as they try to crush the emerging rebel threat called AVALANCHE, during the epoch of a still powerful Shinra, Inc. The player can choose either the role of a male or female rookie and new chapters are updated each month.

Cloud and Aeris make a cameo role in BC, however it's highly unlikely that they will encounter each other. Cloud is currently enlisted as a Shinra guard, while the Turks have been ordered to shield Aeris from AVALANCHE, who are bent on securing the Promised Land from Shinra hands. Many familiar faces from FFVII have been included in BC, as well as some original characters join the cast.

The game is playable only on the FOMA P900iv series mobile phone and has already been released in Japan, the only country where the game is available.

"Final Fantasy VII Technical Demo for PS3", a newly rendered version of FFVII's original CGI intro in real-time, was showcased at the Sony press conference during E3 2005.

With its obvious graphical improvements, the demo highlighted the superior capabilities of the Playstation 3 hardware (still under production) as it featured an almost realistic, flower-selling Aeris (her face still obscured) on the streets of Midgar and Cloud exiting the train ready for his first bombing mission.

For now Square-Enix has dashed any hopes that this will lead to a re-make of FFVII.

The cat will mew, and the dog will have his day.

Now some say that the inclusion of Cloud and Aeris in these games is solely propaganda orchestrated by Square to raise sells by appealing to one fan-base, and that because they are in alternate universes and not from the original game, it therefore has no bearing in determining the true intended couple. However, when taken into consideration that the first time they were featured in a cameo role together was in a game that was being produced before FFVII was even released and before it became the mega hit that caused debate, then how could Square have ever predicted the popularity of any couple?

Moreover, the reason that these references are of any importance in proving their relationship exists is that although they are in a different reality from their counterparts, there has not been a deviation from the way they are portrayed. Cloud, when teamed with Aeris, is always looking to reunite with her. She's been his better half/light in all these other titles and his purpose for continuing his journey just like in FFVII.