[RexNorton]

I've found other repetitions of three in the game, but I've basically illustrated my point enough for the numerical pattern to become evident. Replay the game and look for yourselves.
All of the charaters' ages in the game are multiples of three with the exception of Aeris, Tifa, and Yuffie (all of which are potential love interest for Cloud, although it is very difficult to see the 'date' with Yuffie, and I have never taken the time to get it). Aeris' age is 22, the same as the number of paths interconnecting the branches of the Tree of Life. Tifa's age is 20, I'm not really sure what this means, but I think that zero in the number may be meant to somehow symbolize Tifa's secret from Cloud. Yuffie's age is 16, multiply 1x6 and you get six, which is still a multiple of three (Yuffie is also the sixth character found in the game, if you find her at your earliest opportunity, just before you first reach Junon.)
As I mentioned earlier, in Final Fantasy VII there are three character triangles involving Cloud and Aeris. These are
1. Cloud, Aeris, and Zack
2. Cloud, Aeris, and Tifa
3. Cloud, Aeris, and Sephiroth
Add the numerical points of these character triangles and you will get 9, the number that always returns to itself. These triangles serve to illustrate various choices that Cloud makes during the game which are fundamental to his growth. The choice between Tifa and Aeris is very obvious and is up to the player to decide. The choice between Zack and Aeris is personified when Cloud emerges from the Lifestream and vows to live without lying to himself. Zack represents the false past that Cloud constructed for himself under Jenova's influence.
Aeris represents Clouds connection to reality ("I'm searching for you.") The choice between Aeris and Sephiroth is personified when Cloud refuses to obey Sephiroth's command and kill Aeris at the end of the first disc. If Cloud chooses Aeris in the Tifa/Aeris triangle, then Aeris becomes the point of focus for all three triangles. Here is a visual illustration of these triangles. (C=Cloud, A=Aeris, T=Tifa, S=Sephiroth, Z=Zack)
C
S/A Z/A
C A/T C
If you look at these triangles carefully, you will notice that there is a fourth, inverted triangle within the structure where Aeris is the three points of focus. Note that the points of focus are in the center, with Cloud being represented on the outside of the triangle. Aeris within Cloud. What does this mean? As Cloud puts it in his conversation with Tifa at the end of disc 2, "Everybody has an irreplaceable something their holding onto." In the Tree of Life, the first nine sephirots are grouped in threes. Each triad is comprised of a masculine element, a feminine element, and a combining element. The three triads represent:
1. The world of thought
2. The world of emotions and morality
3. The world of nature
Note how this parallels the above structure. Even Tifa can be determined as the masculine element as she is presented in the game as being somewhat of a tomboy with many masculine traits (she is a martial arts expert who wears men's clothes), whereas Aeris is more of an angelic waif and very, very feminine to boot.
Each one of the three triads on the Tree of Life symbolizes a different element. The first represents the world of thought and is personified by the choice between Zack and Aeris, which occurs inside Clouds head while he is in the Lifestream with Tifa. The second represents the world of emotion and morals and is personified by Clouds choice between Tifa and Aeris, his two love interests.
The third triad represents the world of nature and is personified by Cloud's refusal to kill Aeris at Sephiroth/Jenova's command. Everything in the 'apparent' and 'hidden' stories has parallel contrasts. There is also a second trilogy of character triangles in this story. These triangles consist of:
1. Hojo, Jenova, and Sephiroth
2. Hojo, Jenova, and Lucretia
3. Hojo, Jenova, and Professor Gast
The structure can be illustrated like this: (H=Hojo, J=Jenova S=Sephiroth, G=Gast, L=Lucretia):
H
L/J G/J
H S/J H
Once again, each of these triangles is brought into focus by a choice Hojo makes. His choice between Jenova and Sephiroth (his son) is personified when he chooses to inject the cells of Jenova into Sephiroth while he is in the womb (the world of thought).
The second choice is personified when he chooses to give Lucretia, his lover who is carrying is child, to Professor Gast's Jenova Project and then doesn't allow her to see the child, thus creating the illusion for Sephiroth that Jenova is his real mother (the world of emotions and morals.)
The third choice is made when Hojo has Professor Gast killed (the world of nature.)
If you add the number of characters in these two trilogies together (5+5) you get another 10. If you subtract Sephiroth, who appears once in both sets of trilogies, you get another 9 (damn, this is gettin' trippy!).
The inverted triangle, which is highlighted in these structures by the three connecting points of Aeris and Jenova, is an important symbol in Celtic Mythology. It is called the Triangle of Manifestation. This triangle symbolizes the creation life through three points:
God (Masculine Element)
Goddess (Feminine Element)
Manifest Creation
The three triangles of Hojo illustrate the choice Hojo made that ultimately lead to the creation of the "false" Sephiroth, who never had any real choice except to become a
slave of Jenova. The three triangles of Cloud seem to symbolize that Cloud somehow keeps Aeris alive, but how is this possible. Let's take a look at some of the hints regarding this that are spread throughout the game.
When President Shinra dies, we see Sephiroth's sword shoved through him in exactly the way he kills Aeris later on. He is immediately replaced by his son, which could foreshadow Aeris' rebirth. When Aeris speaks to Cloud in his dream before taking off to the City of the Ancients the last thing she says is, "The secret is just up here. At least it should be. I feel it. It feels like I'm being lead by something. Well, I'll be going now. I'll come back when it's all over." This line implies that Aeris knows that she is being protected by something far greater than herself and that she will be safe if she prays for Holy, no matter what happens.
After all, she knows that Sephiroth is going to be after her. She probably also knew that Jenova was the real threat because her mothers voice would have told her. Also remember that Holy is "the Ultimate White Magic," which is the magic of Healing. If any magic could perform a resurrection, it is Holy.
When Tifa and Cloud are on their way to revisit the City of Ancients to find out what Aeris was really doing there, they have this exchange:
Tifa: "I wonder what Aeris felt when she was on that altar."
Cloud: "I'm sure she wanted to give her life for the planet."
Tifa: "Really? I wonder? I don't think that's it at all. I think she didn't think she would die at all, but that she planned on coming back all along. She always used to talk about the 'next time.' She talked about the future more than any of us..."
When we re-enter the church at Midgar, we see a specter of Aeris that disappears if we get too close. Aeris has not returned to the Planet yet, but why not? What is she waiting for?


When Aeris runs away from Cloud in the Sleeping Forest dream, we see her run into a white sphere of light, symbolizing Holy. If you look closely as Aeris falls through the waters during her burial, notice that she falls into a sphere. As the fade out occurs a circular light surrounding the sphere, grows smaller and smaller as she falls, as though it is absorbing her body.


In the game's ending, there are two appearances of Aeris. The first is the hand reaching from the white light of Holy out to Cloud, as though Holy is creating a new body for her. This could also symbolize Aeris reaching out to Cloud to pull him into Holy and back into the Lifestream with her since, when the scene shifts back to reality, Cloud is about to fall off the ledge he is standing on and die.