I'm playing the OG and I keep thinking about Hollow. There're a lot of moments where Cloud gets close to realizing the scale of Aerith's destiny as a Cetra. But each time she closes off, he lets her be & doesn't push. Focusing on Sephirot is like missing the forest for the trees.

This one was particularly enlightening. Every time Aerith is in pain, Cloud reaches out to her. But he doesn't have the heart to push her, and Sephirot's threats distract him and take his focus elsewhere.

So he essentially "misses the truth hidden inside her tears".

And then there's THIS. It's impossible to think Hollow wasn't written with this specific scene in mind, because every single word is a direct call back to it.

So I definitely thing that the key to avoid Aerith from walking into the same path is for Cloud to realize what it entails, and to actively try to see what Aerith may be withholding from him at every turn.

Okay, it should be impossible but it seriously keeps getting more and more obvious. There is just no way Hollow isn't about #Aerith. #FF7

Plus the EN lyrics "This selfishness, this void to fill" make me think about Sephirot. But the Japanese lyrics simply mention an emptiness. "But I was empty, I just demanded" as translated by @gurekura

Which fits perfectly with Cloud being blinded by his pain after losing her