Heh, I don't mind romantic "twaddles", if they are done well. I don't mind the one in FFVIII as I don't think it's that bad, and the one in FFX is just beautiful in my opinion (I'm thinking about the water scene, and it adds a lot of emotions to the ending as well). And I have to disagree with you on RPGs being about running around killing things - I think RPGs are about the story, how the characters interact, develop and about exploring an entire world. Monsters/fights in general are a natural part of this, and bosses usually come with the story. If you only wanted to kill things, then you may as well go play an action game or something like Diablo which has a little bit of story but in the end is mostly about killing monsters and equipping your characters
Anyway.. well, I think Tifa was simply too shy to let Cloud how she felt. In the Gold Saucer right before going to the Temple of the Ancients, you go on a date with either one of the girls or Barret, as you know. And if you get Tifa as your date, at the end of the date sequence she seems to be trying to tell Cloud something but she doesn't dare to. This _could_ be about Cloud and his memories not being right, but I've always thought about it as that she's trying to tell him how she feels, probably because of that one scene at the Temple of the Ancients (I saw that scene before Tifa's date sequence.. got Aeris as the date on the first few times through). And at that scene at the end of the 2nd disc, she just wants to have that moment with him but she doesn't dare to tell him how she feels.
Yeah, I think she's just too shy. But then again, I think it's good in a way that it is doesn't go any further than that (than just hints of her feelings), because there are so many ways they could have screwed that one up.