Sailor Solathei's $0.02
I think everyone will agree with me when I say that when you first meet Cid in Final Fantasy 7, he doesn't strike you as being the easiest guy in the world to get along with, much less fall in love with. But apparently, someone thinks differently...Shera.
That's right.
It's obvious that they live together when you first run across them. Somewhere down the line they had to have gotten along well enough for 'em to make that arrangement. Here's where most folks get confused, though: Cid treats Shera like dirt through most of the game, and she never leaves. Why in the hell not? Once again, there must have been SOMETHING between them that keeps her there.
Which brings me to my opinion on the whole thing.
Think back to the rocket launch flashback. Shera isn't happy with some of the tests on one of the oxygen tanks (a piece which could cause potentially fatal problems to whoever's in the rocket if it does something it's not supposed to do or doesn't do something it IS supposed to do). Since she appears to be the head tech on this thing, she probably could have had the launch aborted or delayed as soon as she realized something wasn't right. Instead she risked her life trying to get everything in order so the launch could go on as planned and Cid's dream of space flight would be fulfilled. Would you, if you were Shera, do that for just anybody? Hell, no. Shera might not have an ego to speak of, but she's not stupid either.
The problem was, Cid didn't see it that way...not at the time, at least. But he still stopped the launch, even though (at least in the Japanese version; I'm gonna have to play to that part again so I can remember what exactly happens in the US version) the ground crew was urging him to forget about Shera and proceed with the launch.
After that, it seems Cid never has a kind word to say to her. You can't really blame him for that. So again, why does Shera hang around? Well, she said it herself. She blames herself just as much (maybe more so) as Cid blames her for messing up the launch, and she's determined to take everything he gives her. Maybe she thinks she deserves it; maybe she's just hanging around in the hopes that he'll eventually get over it. When you look at it this way, Shera doesn't seem so much like the spineless wonder she appears to be at first...in fact, she'd have to be one damn tough lady to put up with all that...
In a nutshell, I honestly believe Cid and Shera really do care about each other, even when it doesn't really look like it. I did some speculating on events prior to the game one day; that bit of brainstorming turned into my fanfic "Seven Days" and I think it sums up everything I've said pretty well.
Oh, one more thing. We never really see a good view of Shera in any of the flashbacks or in the present in the game, and there is a rumor circulating that the half-naked chick painted on the side of the Highwind is none other than Shera herself...personally, I wouldn't be surprised but I'll leave that up to you ^_^
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