Reeve's gaze followed Aeris as the meeting concluded and the former flower girl left the room with a small wave goodbye. Yuffie slid silently out from behind the head of the WRO's chair. She looked at him, following the direction of his gaze to the door before sighing with exasperation.

"Boss, just ask her out already. She's crazy about you, and you're practically salivating over her." This was not the first time Yuffie had insisted that the pair suffered from a painfully obvious mutual attraction, but it seemed that now she was bored with watching the excruciatingly slow dance around the delicate subject.

Reeve swiveled his chair to face the ninja. "Don't be absurd Yuffie. She's a dear friend, nothing more. Just because Cloud and Tifa are an item, doesn't mean she's looking for someone new."

Yuffie's eyes narrowed as she regarded him. "Boss, I didn't want to resort to this, but I have a brick at home with your name on it. It will shortly intersect with your head if you don't go and ask our flower girl out on a date." She held up her hand as if gripping something heavy and rectangular. Reeve regarded the implied space. Although she couldn't whack him around the head with it right this moment, past experience made him take the ninja's threats seriously.

"She doesn't like me like that," he protested. "She's just being friendly."

"'Friendly'? You call three hours on the phone with her yesterday 'just being friendly'?"

"What have I told you about going through my call logs looking for Vincent's phone number?"

"I would nev- I mean; who cares-"

Her eyes widened and she made an inelegant dive for the floor, hitting it with a painful sounding thump. Reeve pivoted his chair to see just what had panicked the ninja and drew in a surprised breath. Walking right up to his desk was Aeris Gainsborough.

"Reeve?" Her voice was still just as lovely as the first time he had heard it via Cait Sith, and none of the complications involved in her being able to stand there and speak to him like this had changed it. "I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me tomorrow night?"

"Yes." The executive's mind suddenly stalled and re-processed what Aeris had just said. "Wait, what?" Brain and mouth were now out of sync, and he lurched desperately to unify both, squadrons of butterflies beginning an aerial assault in his stomach. "Yes!" Shit. That was too desperate. His elevated heart-beat near deafening he tried to temper his speech and aimed for suave. "I mean; yes, I'd be delighted." He'd missed, the strangled strain on the first few syllables had been far too telling.

Fortunately for his peace of mind, Aeris simply giggled softly before clearing her throat, the trace of a smile on her lips as she curled a stray bang around her finger. "I'm glad. Is seven o'clock tomorrow evening a good time?"

"Y-yes. Yes, that'll be fine." He was grinning too much. He needed to dial it down. This was tricky however. Reeve was not used to getting everything he'd wanted just handed to him. In fact this was the first time it had happened. Certainly the first time he'd ever been asked out by his hapless crush. "D-do you want to- I mean, should we meet here?"

The flower girl smiled at him then. "Sounds great. Until tomorrow?" She gave him another wave and walked away. Reeve waved back, echoing her last word.

"...tomorrow." His face was plastered with an idiot grin which only began to fade once the girl had exited the room. He once again kept his gaze on the spot where she'd passed out of sight, his mind whirling. A date with Aeris. He couldn't quite believe it; he was on an emotional high the like of which he had never experienced before. Nothing could bring him down now. Nothing. Well, except the near heart-attack when Yuffie made her presence known again.

The female voice roaring "Score!" made him jump a mile.

A/N: This is based on a play-script snippet for an imagined scene of a post-Advent Children/Dirge of Cerberus scenario where Reeve and Aeris wind up together. It resulted from a long discussion with Raaj on how the sequence in which a Cloud/Aeris/Tifa relationship formed up strongly affected the longevity/happiness of the participants, and if Aeris was to split from the group just who she might wind up with.