So, I mentioned during chapter 17 that the camera becomes fixed during the 3rd ward with Tifa and we can't see Aerith or back down.
I know why.
Because of the chapter 8 parallels. There's the exact same number of gateway interactions in the drum as the rooftops, the routes include climbing and jumping and falling. The thing is, for a bodyguard job, it's not dangerous, whereas the drum is.
This is contrasting the fact that not only is Cloud not ok within himself, but reinforcing the concern she shows Tifa. She knows Cloud isn't ok, so doesn't need to focus on him, compared to the person who is actually taking up the bodyguard role.
Camera becomes fixed in both cases, though there's no actual danger involved in Cloud’s bodyguard work, whereas there definitely is in Tifa's.
Aerith won't let Cloud go ahead because it's not dangerous. There's no question in her taking the lead in the drum. The bodyguard goes first to check it's safe.
Well, Tifa doesn't know she's a bodyguard lol but also, because Cloud is a guy, there's an expectation he should save Aerith when she falls, but if he hadn't done that she'd have landed how she did in the drum. Which is why she comments that it hurt. Her bodyguard didn't save her in this instance because a bodyguard's job is to protect. Which is what Tifa does during the entire 3rd ward.
Cloud might be the main character pov, but he's not the hero. He's not the leader. He's not the bodyguard.
